Ghost Stories
by Vexel
Summary: Danny was not happy. After two years of fighting ghosts, he thought he could handle strange. But when a bunch of costumed weirdos show up on his doorstep, demanding that he help fight against a wannabe vampire and a megalomanic god with a grudge, he was really considering retirement from the hero gig.
1. Rumours

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Monday came all too soon for Danny. He was already regretting the day and he had only just woken up. Lying in bed, The mussy-haired boy contemplated the idea of feigning sick, but quickly threw that thought aside in fear of his mother's reaction of her 'poor baby boy' being ill.

Reluctantly throwing back the covers, Danny dragged himself out of his bed towards the bathroom down the hall. He could hear his parents tinkering in the lab downstairs – hopefully that meant that they hadn't prepared breakfast for him. He shuddered, thinking back to the last month when the Fenton Toaster had decided to go on a cannibalistic rampage, attempting to devour the other appliances in the kitchen. The blender still had bite marks.

Danny stared dully at his reflection in the bathroom mirror through sleepy and unfocused eyes. He had grown a lot since first gaining his ghost powers. Now at the age of sixteen, he had finally gotten his impending growth spurt, looming over his sister and mother at six feet and eight inches and still growing, he would probably be even bigger than his father at the rate he was going. He had grown out too, gaining some of the girth his father was infamous for. His jaw was no longer as weak, becoming more square in shape. His hair was the same, appearing unkempt and shaggy, along with his sharp blue eyes that still held that sense of righteousness and philanthropy he had gained at the age of fourteen.

"Danny?" Said boy peered through the open bathroom door to see his older sister, Jazz, rapping on his closed bedroom door, "You might want to get up. Mum and dad have a new invention they want to show you, and it doesn't exactly look harmless."

Danny rolled his eyes, ignoring his ever persistent and overbearing sister, before smirking and turning intangible, slipping through the tiled floor to breakfast, leaving his sister to continue knocking on his door, unaware of his sudden departure.

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Natasha Romanoff strutted down the halls of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division appearing to be in a very bad mood. Rumours had started to circulate about a growing threat near the North East of America about an influx of power warping in recent years, yet SHIELD was stubbornly ignoring it, deeming it unworthy of their time.

Nick Fury's tactics were lacking in Natasha's opinion, with only approaching situations that were already out of hand, rather than controlling the problem before anything truly terrible happened.

Amity Park, a small city located in Illinois, was supposedly having trouble with the supernatural – ghosts specifically – with fluxes of otherworldly power seeping from alternate realms. Fury had blown this off as a city-wide scam to promote tourism that even went as far as to getting a teenage boy to dress up in a skin-tight suit, bleach his hair white and claim himself as a hero. Natasha thought otherwise. She suspected that, while some of the rumours were untrue – including the city's idol teenager – supernatural occurrences were happening in the state of Illinois and she was going to find out what. With or without Fury's permission.

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"Danny, my boy!" A bulky man in orange cried gleefully, "Come look at my new invention!"

Danny barely glanced up at his dad from his bowl of cereal, his mind still a haze of semi-consciousness. The image in front of him slowly registered in his mind as he whipped his head back up, gagging slightly on his mouthful and harshly swallowed. Jack was leaning against a rather peculiar machine, panting with a wide grin on his face. Standing at seven feet tall and looking extremely heavy, Danny wondered how his father had dragged the contraption up from the lab.

The heavy-looking cylindrical machine was painted a flat white with a simple door. With delight, Jack yanked the machine open, presenting a cramped looking chamber. The interior gave off an eerie green glow as multi-coloured lights blinked disconcertingly at him, the exhaust fans created a low symphony of threatening hums. Jazz was right, his dad's latest toy looked anything but friendly.

"Er, that's great, dad. What is it?" Danny asked.

Jack let out a bellowing laugh, as if the answer was obvious, "I call it the Fenton Ecto-Extractor! When a ghost is locked inside, it sucks out high levels of their ectoplasmic energy and transforms it into a usable power source – it's able to run half the city for almost a year if the ghost is strong enough!"

Danny began to feel his cereal rise back up his throat, "Half the city? What ghost would be strong enough for that?" He laughed uneasily, "I mean, that's impossible! You would have to search the entire ghost zone before you found a one strong enough!"

"What are you talking about, sweetie? Everyone knows that that Phantom ghost is easily the strongest around. Him or the Wisconsin ghost, of course." Danny's mother, Maddie, swept into the room, her arms laden with electric wires and welding equipment.

"Imagine what this baby could do when we get our hands on the ghost-boy! It would be like two birds and one stone! Giving the city energy and get rid of all the pesky ghosts!"

Danny did not like where this conversation was heading. Seeing a disgruntled Jazz – whom he had left banging on his bedroom door for ten minutes– in the kitchen's doorway, he turned to her, pleading desperately with his eyes as Jack attempted to coax Danny to step into the Ecto-Extractor to 'get a closer look'.

Jazz obviously felt pity for him, "Danny, shouldn't you be heading off to school soon? You're going to be late, otherwise."

Danny grinned at the older girl, "Right, school! Should get going! Otherwise I won't be as smart and courageous as two certain ghost hunters I know!" He said, expertly stroking his parent's egos.

Danny watched as his father's chest inflated with pride, "That's right! Hurry up and get good grades so you can be my apprentice, Danny-boy!" Jack said cheerily.

Danny's smile slid on his face, turning into a slight grimace, before he muttered something about getting dressed, quickly heading up the stairs to get ready for school.

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Natasha was frustrated. Trying to convince the Avengers to join her to travel across the country – or in Bruce Banner's case, the world – to check the truthfulness of a handful of rumours was not working out exactly as planned.

Seated in front of multiple monitors transmitting a teleconference between the five mortal heroes, Natasha attempted to keep her voice level, "Haven't you heard the news reports? The sightings that these townspeople and tourists have seen, doesn't that make you curious in the slightest? An entire town can't _all_ be in on such a hoax without there being some truth to it!"

Steve Rogers looked at Natasha sceptically, "While there might be some strange occurrences, do you really believe in such things as ghosts?"

"If there is such thing as aliens, why can't ghosts exist?" She replied snippily.

"Because aliens are living creatures. As in, they have a pulse. Ghosts, on the other hand, are believed to be a manifestation of a dead person's 'soul' or 'spirit'. It's simply not possible." Tony Stark lazily stated, as if speaking to a child.

Clint Barton frowned, "What has gotten you so worked up? Usually you would be the first one to repudiate the idea of something like ghosts."

"I don't particularly believe in them, just that there could be something more to the town. Ghosts could simply be a cover-up for something even bigger."

Clint shook his head slowly, "Look, I don't have time to chase fairy tales. Maybe another time okay?" With a quick goodbye, he turned off his transmission.

The others shortly followed suit – Steve with a bit of trouble – and Natasha collapsed in her seat with a frustrated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. Looking back at the monitors to switch them off, she stopped.

Bruce's pixelated face was still staring at hers.

"I'm in."

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Simple clean-up of chapters. Nothing to see here people. :P


	2. Questions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Amity Park was not a large city. It had no skyscrapers, nor did it have an airport. Natasha and Bruce had taken a rental car out from Chicago and driven the rest of the way. After they had arrived and booked into a hotel, they set to work. Interviewing the townspeople and visiting locations of recent or famous ghost attacks, they found that the ever-elusive 'Danny Phantom' played a key role in the safety of the city – supernatural or otherwise.

Hours later, the two heroes had found that they would soon be able to quote stories off by heart. It appeared that either the city-wide hoax was an excellently kept ploy to boost tourism and exports, or there was a high probability that ghosts actually existed.

Bruce had been sceptical about joining Natasha in city he had never heard of before. It had been several months since the Avengers had joined forces against Loki and the Chitauri in the fight for the Tesseract. Bruce had not seen anything out of the ordinary since. So when Natasha called, requesting a teleconference with the team, he was curious. At first, he was as cynical to the idea of ghosts as his other teammates, but watching Natasha practically beg onscreen made him reconsider. He wondered why Clint had been unable to see that weakness.

They were heading to their final stop for the day after being directed towards it by numerous citizens. Walking through a nice neighbourhood with large multi-level brick buildings, on the outskirts of the city's business district, they reached a corner house with a large metallic UFO perched on top and a glowing sign, reading _Fenton Works_.

"Think we've got the right place?" Natasha quipped lightly, her expression reserved.

Bruce feigned uncertainty, "I'm not sure."

They went to knock on the door.

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Danny, Sam and Tucker stood in the cafeteria's food line, discussing the repercussions of Jack and Maddie's latest invention.

"So this Ecto-Extractor thingy takes a ghost's energy and turns it into an alternate power source?" Tucker asked.

"Basically," The line shuffled forward, Danny and the others followed suit, "Except it doesn't simply take a ghost's energy – it forcefully rips it out of them. Supposedly generating enough power to run half the city if they found a strong enough ghost."

"Like Danny Phantom." Sam interjected.

Danny nodded glumly, "Right. Exactly. And I'm pretty sure that's who they have in mind to give the Ecto-Extractor a test run."

They moved further up the line, each of them silently musing.

"So…" Sam started, "Do you have a plan?"

"I dunno." Danny shrugged, "Not really. I suppose I could get you guys to do a sabotage attack for me – I don't really want to go near it in case it locks onto my ectoplasmic signature or something like the booo-merang did."

Tucker and Sam sighed and began filling up their trays with food. Danny left his empty. He wasn't very hungry anymore.

His melancholy lifted slightly as he saw Tucker approach an old, beak-nosed woman wearing a hairnet, standing in front of a row of bain-maries.

"Rhonda! My most favourite of people! Do you have any filet mignon, perchance? Perhaps some lobster bisque?"

The woman simply dumped a peculiar-looking brown sludge onto his tray.

Tucker's mouth pulled into a taut smile, "Thanks."

Sam laughed boldly at his disgusted expression.

Rhonda merely grunted and gestured with her spoon towards Sam, who quickly shook her head, "I'm an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian."

The old lady huffed, before picking up a different spoon filled with green goo and dumped it on Sam's tray. Now it was Tucker's turn to laugh.

Sam poked at the green concoction with her fork, "Great."

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Jack and Maddie Fenton were probably the strangest couple Natasha had ever met. The two were clad in skin-tight suits similar to her own SHIELD uniform, but in shocking colours of orange and teal. Natasha was glad she wore civilian clothes today. Otherwise, she feared they would be a matching set.

As Natasha sat in the large lounge room with Bruce and the Fentons, she studied them. Maddie was a reasonably tall woman with cropped auburn hair and seemed to be the more sane of the two. While she resembled a bug half the time with her large red goggles and blue hooded suit, she was still able to hold a calm and pleasant conversation. Her husband on the other hand, was easily excitable about everything, asserting his opinions and thoughts in a loud booming voice. His bright orange suit complimented his personality. Jack was also big. Really big. Natasha hadn't ever seen a bigger man – except when Bruce let _Him_ out. It was obvious that not all his bulk was muscle however.

"It's always so good to see people travel so far to visit our little city. We didn't know that we'd become so famous!" Maddie said, "To travel all the way from Washington and… where did you say you came from, Mr Banner?"

"Guatemala."

Jack was excited once again, "Guatemala! Have you heard about any of the ghosts there? I remember there was called _La Llorona_, about a woman searching for her baby and another—"

"We were wondering if you could tell us about the ghosts in Amity, actually." Natasha quickly cut Jack off. He seemed to have a habit to ramble if the topic of ghosts popped up. Or fudge, for some reason.

"Well, what would you like to know?" Maddie asked.

"There have been rumours about the town being overrun before?"

Maddie and Jack looked uncomfortable, "I wouldn't say we were overrun. More like we were, uh…" Maddie looked at her husband, who shrugged his big shoulders, "Momentarily incapable of controlling the situation." She finished with an uneasy smile.

Natasha paused at that. They spoke as if they had had direct interaction with ghosts before, "Well what about 'Danny Phantom'?" The corner of her mouth lifted into a sneer at the thought of a kid running around, pretending he was a comic-book hero like Superman or something.

"What about Phantom?" Jack growled out.

"Well… who is he exactly?" For a supposed hero, he didn't seem to be very liked by Jack or Maddie.

"He's a ghost that appeared about two years ago. A no-good evil ghost." Maddie voice raised a few octaves as she continued, "He's overshadowed one of our old mayors before and is the reason there's so much property damage to the city."

"And we've finally figure out a way to get rid of the ghost-kid!" Jack had thrown off his scowl and returned to his more boisterous manner.

"_Get rid of_? You're going to kill a teenage boy?" All amusement had dropped from Bruce's face, relaced with astonishment and worry. Natasha felt her own do the same.

"You can't kill a ghost, silly. They're already dead." Maddie chuckled.

Jack jumped up, "Wanna see how?"

Natasha and Bruce nodded warily before following the odd couple through the house into a basement. The SHIELD spy was beginning to feel that she had gotten in over her head as the door clicked shut.

Stepping down into the room, Natasha looked around. Odd weaponry and computer hardware was strewn across the room, scattered on bench tops and peeking out of cardboard boxes. A large sliding metal door was built into the far wall, a small control panel next to it.

Jack hustled them in and, waving his hand, urged them towards a corner of the room. A tall metal cylinder with a door stood, a thick power cord plugged into the wall. It seemed almost harmless in comparison to everything else in the room.

Jack smacked his palm against the invention, "Here it is! The Ecto-Extractor! Capable of powering thousands of homes and businesses for years!"

Bruce seemed to gain some of his colour back as he looked at the cylinder, intrigued, "How does it work?"

"Easy. You put a ghost or ghost-like creature inside, it detects the abnormal DNA and… BAM!" Jack smacked his fist against the machine, making Bruce jump back. Natasha's training allowed her to be unmoved by Jack's sudden move, "The ghost is sucked clean of almost all of its energy, rendering it useless until it can gather enough ecto-energy to return to its normal state. Easily enough time for one of us to catch it." Jack finished with a wide grin.

"Ah, I see. Energy cannot die, it can only transform. So you filter this 'ecto-energy' to produce a green power source. Quite ingenious." Bruce concluded.

"Thank you, Mr Banner." Maddie's chin lifted at the compliment.

"But what happens when a normal non-dead human steps inside? Wouldn't they be hurt or killed if they get their energy sucked out of them?" Natasha asked, in fear of the town's pretend vigilante.

Maddie looked aghast, "Oh no, definitely not! Only people with a high chromosomal mutation would ever feel anything! Humans would most likely only feel a slight tingling sensation at worst."

"Here, try it out for yourselves," Jack pressed, opening the door to an array of lights and wires.

"Er, thanks for the offer but we really should be going." Natasha said, edging towards the stairs.

"Nonsense. This will take no time at all." With that, Jack grabbed Bruce's arm, shoving him inside the Ecto-Extractor.

"But—" Bruce's protest was cut off as the door slammed shut in his face.

Natasha bit her lip nervously, resisting the urge to render the two nut-jobs comatose. Despite the two scientists' claims that the machine wouldn't harm the living, there was no way to verify this other than their word. Besides, if they were planning to suck the energy out of a vandalising teenager wearing a bed-sheet, how sane could they really be?

There was a muffled banging coming from inside the cylinder, where Bruce was obviously trying to force the door open. Natasha's worry grew. While she trusted her friend to stay calm, she didn't trust the _Other Guy _to stay that way, too.

"Perhaps we should leave this for another day." Natasha tried to convince the couple, as Maddie began typing into the keypad of a controller.

Growls were starting to emerge from the machine, much deeper than Bruce's usual voice, the banging was becoming heavier, leaving slight dents on the outside of the door. He was losing his restraint.

The couple didn't seem to notice the hammering, as Maddie finished typing into the remote, holding it out for her husband. Jack grabbed the remote from Maddie, jumping up and down in excitement, "Three, two, one… Banzai!"

He pressed a large red button as the Ecto-Extractor began to emit a loud whirring noise. Violent green light bled from the cracks in the door and Bruce's pounding and growling suddenly stopped. Natasha watched, horrified as the machine continued to glow.

An alarm wailed pitifully throughout the house. Jack and Maddie's attention was quickly diverted from the machine. As Jack violently smacked the button again, the cylinder's abnormal light died away, but the scientists no longer held any interest in the Ecto-Extractor. Hurrying around the room, they gathered up an assortment of odd artillery.

Maddie turned to Natasha, "Stay as long as you like. We shouldn't be more than a jiffy." She said with a pleasant smile, before making a swift exit up the stairs after her husband.

Natasha stood there, uncertain what to do. Turning around to face the Ecto-Extractor, she was hesitant to open it. Taking a handgun out of her purse, the SHIELD agent held it in front of herself. Natasha knew it wouldn't do anything against _Him_, but the feel of the cool metal gave her comfort.

Reaching for the doorhandle, Natasha wavering once more before gathering her wits and pulling it open.

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Not much of Danny in this chapter sadly, but he will be a lot more prominent in the next.

I want to say thank you to all the people who have given me such positive feedback at the moment on this story and I'm glad I have caught your attention.  
This is the first time I have ever 'published' anything so it is good to see I am eliciting such a positive reaction from you.


	3. Worries

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Danny pioneered himself through the rows of warehouses with Skulker right on his tail. Literally. The stupid hunk of metal kept making a grab at it in an attempt to make Danny stop. The robotic ghost had found him midway through his science class with Mr Felluca, terrorising everyone there and creating a school-wide panic. Class was cancelled. Nobody really minded though, it was a Monday. No one likes Mondays.

Dodging around a corner, Danny called back to Skulker, "Haven't you had enough? We've been doing this for over two years! Haven't you found any better prey?"

The robot's frown deepened to the point Danny thought his metal mask was going to crack, "There would be no better prize to have than a half-ghost. Only once your pelt is hanging on my wall I will be satisfied."

"Well, why don't you go after Plasmius' pelt? He's a half-ghost too, you know. And he'd be much easier to catch since you guys always act so buddy-buddy!"

Skulker faltered slightly in his flight at that, before roughly shaking his head, "That is not important, whelp. I only focus on the here and now." With that, Skulker raised his wrist towards the halfa, the metal casing sliding open to show a shiny new laser cannon, pointed directly at Danny's back.

"Aw crud." Danny muttered, gathering a burst of adrenaline and shooting forward. He angled himself downwards to avoid the green bursts of light from the miniature cannon.

The shots were coming faster and wilder the more desperate Skulker became to hit the half-ghost. Danny dodged and swerved, corkscrewing every so often to evade the ruthless attack. A dead-end was coming up ahead, the high walls of the neighbouring warehouses loomed over the two. Danny tried to keep his flight pattern straight, heading directly for the far wall as he continued to elude Skulker's shots. The wall was coming up fast. Three, two, one…

Skulker collided with the wall. Hard. Danny was nowhere in sight, having gone intangible and simply sliding through the wall. Popping his head back through the thick metal sheeting, Danny found an indentation where the hunting ghost had collided with the wall. Chuckling to himself, Danny pulled off the lid of the Fenton Thermos and sucked an unconscious Skulker in without hesitation.

Pressing the lid back on, Danny elevated himself back into the air and headed back to the city at a much lazier pace, laughing every so often at Skulker's single-mindedness and predictable moves. Glancing down, Danny caught sight of the GAV parked over three parking spots haphazardly, almost crushing a neighbouring station wagon. His parents were exiting the car, laden with weaponry, and rushing towards the now empty warehouses, never once glancing up. Danny sniggered once more before heading home.

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Natasha was far from the cool, calm and collected SHIELD agent she prided herself to be. Opening the door, she had hardly expected to find a nine foot tall, cramped green monster to be staring back at her. Automatically lifting her gun to aim between its eyes, her shoulders tense, she scuffled back out of arms reach of the creature. Natasha was not going down without a fight.

What the monster did next, however, was so unexpected all Natasha could do was gape. The beast feebly pushed its arm and head out of the undersized chamber, overbalancing and collapsing on the floor with a moan. It didn't look like it would be getting up anytime soon.

Natasha slowly edged forward, gun still in hand, until she reached the abdomen of the creature, giving it a sharp, quick poke with her foot. It groaned heavily and Natasha skipped back to the other side of the room. Giving a small huff, the monster rolled over, curling into itself and refused to move anymore.

Not knowing what to do, Natasha crept around the large green _thing_ and hurriedly raced up the stairs, attempting to silently shut the door behind her.

Pressing an ear against the door, Natasha listened intently to hear if it had followed. There was nothing. No guttural roaring, no smashing glass, nothing. Just the deep slow breaths of the beast – as if it was sleeping peacefully. Natasha stood by the door for another minute before she heaved a sigh of relief, flicking the on the safety on her handgun. It wasn't smart to leave it off when she was in this state, not when there could be innocent civilians arou—

"Hey, are you okay?"

Natasha spun around on her heel sharply, pointing the now-safety locked gun at the intruder.

A tall teenage boy with black shaggy hair and large blue eyes stood before her, looking down the length of her weapon in shock.

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Danny slipped into his home invisible. Landing softly on his carpeted lounge room floor, he sighed exhaustedly. Today had been long, and it was only the start of the week. Running his palms across his face, he made his way to the kitchen.

Danny paused when he heard a deep growl echo through the house, followed shortly by light footsteps running and a door squeaking shut. Allowing the glowing rings to slide over him, returning Danny to his human state, he slinked his way across to the other side of the house towards the source of the noise.

A woman stood there facing away from him, with her head leaning the door of his parents' lab. He'd never seen her before. Maybe she was another family friend? Danny continued to walk up behind the woman who suddenly sighed with apparent relief. A sharp clicking noise came from whatever she was holding in her hand.

As her shoulders sagged, he queried, "Hey, are you okay?"

What a stupid question.

The woman freaked. With amazing speed for a human, she twisted around and aimed a shiny black handgun at his face. So that was what the clicking was, that was unexpected. He wasn't used to mortal weaponry being pointed at him.

Looking at her face – he noted she was very pretty – he saw a clear countenance of fear plastered across it. Which lead him to ask his next stupid question, with the gun still pointed at his head, "What were you doing in the lab?"

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Natasha felt foolish. How had he snuck up on her? Had she been _that scared_ of Banner's creation that she had forgotten all her training? Quickly lowering the gun, she tried to shove down the blush that was steadily rising on her face. Natasha eyed the boy in front of her, he was freakishly tall, especially for his age, and she had to crane her neck to get a proper look at his face.

"Nothing important," She replied in a quiet voice. She didn't wish to aggravate _Him _downstairs, the boy was speaking too loud already, "Jack and Maddie were showing me around when they had to suddenly leave."

The boy, who had been looking at her suspiciously, nodded his head in acceptance, smirking a little at the mention of the odd couple.

"Well mum and dad probably won't be back for another ten minutes. Did you want anything to eat or drink?" The boy casually ambled his way back to the front house, as if he hadn't just almost been victim to her Beretta 92.

Looking back to the closed basement door, Natasha reluctantly headed towards the modern kitchen, where she found the boy rifling through one of the cupboards.

He glanced at her as she walked in, pulling out two water glasses, "My name's Danny, by the way."

"Natasha Romanoff." The SHIELD agent professionally replied, regaining some of her composure.

"Okay," Danny seemed to falter at her short response, "How d'you know my parents?"

"I'm from out of town. My friend and I were just visiting the local area, learning about the legends of the city." That wasn't even a lie.

"Huh. A tourist." Danny opened his mouth to say more when his parents came bursting through the entryway. Both had an equally frustrated expression on their face. However, Maddie's brightened when she saw her son and Natasha in the kitchen.

"Danny! I see you've met our guest!" Maddie gave a smile, before turning to Natasha, "Sorry about running out on you earlier, we had important ghost business to attend to!"

"How'd it go?" Danny asked. His lips had curved up into a smile that could only be described as mischievous.

"That gosh-darn ghost got away before we could even begin to sniff him out," Jack said sullenly, "The next ghost I catch will be paying double for this!" He pounded his fist into his other hand to emphasise his point.

Danny simply rolled his eyes at his parents' antics, before turning to Natasha, "You said you had a friend with you. Where'd he go?"

"Oh, he had to leave. He was feeling… a little green." Still not technically a lie. Bruce in a sense _had_ left. He was just being momentarily replaced with a giant green thing with anger management issues. She prayed Bruce would change back soon, so they could get out of this crazy town with its psychotic residents and their weird, energy-sucking machines.

She only hoped the Fentons wouldn't go into the lab anytime soon.

Maddie looked empathetic, "Well I hope he feels better soon. Did you want to continue the tour without him?"

Natasha shook her head rapidly, "Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you more about your personal experiences with ghosts?"

Jack and Maddie both looked excitedly at their guest, eager to show their battle scars and share their heroic tales.

Danny handed Natasha her glass while speaking to his parents, "I'm going to head off to Tucker's to play Doom, so I'm just going to grab the game real quick and go. I'll be back in time for dinner, 'kay?"

"Alright, honey. Be safe." Maddie replied as the ghost hunters and the SHIELD agent sat themselves down at the kitchen table– Natasha with a little trepidation. Danny left to collect his game.

Sitting down and distracting Jack and Maddie was probably the best idea. Keep an eye on them, make sure they didn't go wandering off. It was a safe idea. It was a promising idea. It was a fool-proof idea. At least, that's what Natasha thought until she heard the basement door slam shut.

She had forgotten about Danny.


	4. Assumptions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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"Sir, there is a video call for you from Clint Barton." An electronic voiced echoed throughout the Miami villa's garage, drowning out the last of Black Sabbath's _Paranoid_.

"Thanks, JARVIS. Just throw him up on the screen." Tony Stark replied, head stuck in his Bugatti Veyron engine.

One of the many plasma televisions that littered the house flickered to life, Clint resided in a large leather chair, his back ramrod straight. This wasn't a leisure call.

"Stark," Tony didn't look up, "_Stark_." Clint repeated, frustration edging his voice. He didn't appear to have time for the self-proclaiming philanthropist's games.

"Stark, pay attention. This is important." Tony let out a deep echoing sigh from inside his car's engine, before slowly pulling his body out and giving the screen a short glare.

Clint returned it, "Thank you. I was just wondering whether you knew the location of Natasha? She has not spoken to me since our last little get-together, and by now she should've hassled me once again to join her on her latest expedition."

Tony smirked, "Well aren't you a mother hen? She's only been gone for about..." He glanced at his watch, "Two days. Surely a grown woman like Natasha would be able to handle herself for that long?"

The wrinkles between Clint's eyes deepened the more the other man spoke. Tony didn't understand the relationship that he and Natasha had.

"I am aware of the length of time it has been. However, Natasha has not been answering any of my phone calls and I'm worried she is going to do something rash." Clint replied sharply.

Tony's grin never slipped, "Is this a plea for help? Are you asking for _my_ assistance because the little SHIELD agents are having a lovers spat?"

Clint wasn't amused, "Just call her, will you?" He spat, ending the transmission.

Tony was worried that the wind was going to change and leave his face stuck looking so stupidly gleeful permanently.

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Natasha was perched on the edge of her seat, ready to leap out at any second. The Fentons were drawling on about some sort of cuboid ghost. Danny had been downstairs for almost a whole two minutes. She hadn't heard any screaming or running footsteps – the boy must be in shock... or dead.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she swiftly pulled it out, hiding it under the table she sat at to not gain the attention of the two ghost hunters. Tony Stark's picture was splayed across the screen.

Briefly sparing a look at Jack and Maddie, she excused herself from the room and walked into the lounge to not be overheard.

Accepting the call, she answered in hushed tones, "Tony? I could really use your help right now."

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Danny made his way down to the lab, frowning as he tried to recall where he had left his game. Reaching the bottom of the steps, his eyes automatically fell to a corner of the room. Doom sat on the table next to the computer, right where he had left it. Grinning, Danny hurriedly made his way over, picked it up and turned around to make his way back up the stairs.

Mentally gloating over his newly strategized game-plan he was going to pound Tucker with, he didn't notice the large green thing lying in the middle of the floor until he literally tripped over it.

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Tony Stark was flying at full capacity. With the ability to reach up to Mach 8, he would reach Amity Park in less than fifteen minutes. Listening to Natasha's frantic voice as she told Tony the situation, he had made the decision that his precious car engines could wait.

His satellite navigation alerted him that he had just passed the border of Georgia. Eight minutes.

"Sir, Clint Barton is on the line again. Did you want him on the screen?" JARVIS's voice filled the interior of Tony's helmet.

"I'll take it, but keep him down. I don't want him to know what Tash has gotten herself into."

Clint's name popped up in Tony's peripheral vision, but no image followed.

"Stark? Why is there no picture? I called with video." Clint sounded disgruntled.

"Er, I'd rather not let you see me and Pepper right now. It's sort of a private show." Good lie.

There was a pause on Clint's end, "You're disgusting, Stark. Have you heard from Natasha?"

"Yeah, I barely caught her. She on a mission in Uzbekistan. Top secret. Need to know and all that."

"That's odd. Usually they pair us together on international missions." Confusion and anger gave Clint's voice an edge.

Tony couldn't help but rile him up a bit more, "Yeah, well sometimes they gotta put their best men on the job, and I guess Tash is just a better man then you," Tony glanced back at his navigation. Four minutes, "Look, Clint, It's been great chatting to you, but Pepper is getting a nice bottle of Merlot out of the chiller and I'd prefer it if it didn't go warm. Talk to you later, Lover-boy."

He cut off Clint's angry sputtering and readied himself for his arrival in Amity Park.

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Jazz Fenton arrived home later than usual. Due to classes being cancelled, she had organised a group study session at the library to make up for the lost class time. Much to her disappointment, very few people turned up.

When Jazz walked through her door, however, her melancholy disappeared, only to be replaced with fear. Tony Stark – _the_ Tony Stark – was standing in her house with a very beautiful red haired woman, talking to _her_ parents. This was not good. If her mum and dad started warbling on about ghosts like lunatics, her dream of interviewing and psychoanalysing one of the greatest minds in the country would become non-existent.

"Jazzy-pants!" Oh, God, please strike her now, "Come here and meet Mr Stark and Ms Romanoff!"

Jazz, red faced and head ducked, reluctantly made her way over to the handsome couple.

Tony Stark turned towards her, "So you're the famous Jasmine Fenton, hmm? I read your Yale University admission thesis on the 'developmental stages of ghost envy'. It wasn't half bad."

Jazz was left speechless, "Thank you." She replied meekly.

The woman next to Tony Stark began to nervously pull on his sleeve, tilting her head towards the back of the house. Tony Stark nodded in response and announced, "It's a shame Bruce isn't able to join us now, right Natasha? You were both so excited to get a tour of the city's er… rich culture."

The woman – now known as Natasha Romanoff – looked confused, before her eyes lit up in realisation, "Yes, it is a shame. But I was wondering if I could still get a tour? To tell Bruce about it? He wouldn't want me to miss anything because of him."

Maddie clasped her hands to her chest, "Of course! We'd love to take you around! Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

Jack stood tall, "And who knows? Maybe you'll actually see a real ghost in the flesh!" Jack pondered over his words, "Well sorta…"

Maddie turned to Tony Stark, "Care to join us? You're always welcome to!"

"Oh, sorry, no. I had a long flight here and I fear I've worn myself out." Tony Stark's grin was very toothy. He bent down to Jazz's height, and asked in a whisper, "Why don't you go along too, Jasmine? You seem to be an intelligent young lady. Able to make the tour a little more informative, no?"

Jazz blushed at the close proximity of the dashing businessman, "Y-yes, Mr Stark."

Tony Stark stood back up to his full height, "Great. It was nice meeting you all. I hope to see you again and talk more about you inventions Mr and Mrs Fenton."

With that, Tony Stark walked out the door.

"Come on, Tashie! Let's not keep the ghosts waiting!" Jack bellowed as he and Maddie followed Tony Stark out the door.

Jazz saw Natasha Romanoff shiver in disgust at the nickname, before trailing after the two ghost hunters. Jazz headed to the door last. Grabbing the handle to pull it behind her, she thought she heard a deep growl from in the house. Shaking her head, she locked the door and headed for the GAV where her parents were waiting.

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Danny was more than a little confused, which was excusable, considering there was a giant scary mutant monster lying in the middle of the floor of his parents' lab. What the heck had his parents been up to these days? He knew he should have kept a closer eye on them. After all, didn't they just complete the Ecto-Extractor? He had no idea they had even been working on such a thing until this morning.

Looking across the room towards where the cylindrical machine was, he noticed the door rocking on its hinges, with large fist-like imprints on the inside of the container.

Oh. So that's what happened to Mr Big-and-Green.

Eyeing the half-conscious creature again, he noticed the trails of dried sweat on its face. It must have had most of its energy sucked right out of it, only able to groan and roll its eyes whenever he went near it.

Crouching down on his haunches next to the thing's face he asked, "Want some help?"

He'd really had to start thinking before opening his mouth.

The monster rolled over completely, facing away from Danny and his stupid mouth. Danny didn't even know if he spoke English. He tried Esperanto, "_¿__Voli iom helpi?_" Still no response other than a huff of frustration. Danny couldn't see its face to verify this though.

Danny sighed and fell back to sit on the ground. "Maybe you're from the Ghost Zone? You look scary enough." Danny questioned this possibility, "I guess I could try putting you back? Because I really don't think I want to mess with you when you get your strength back."

Danny stood up after finalising his decision. He'd help the ghost monster get back home and then go and play Doom like originally planned.

"Going ghost." Danny muttered, so to not gain the attention of his parents or the pretty lady upstairs.

As the glowing white rings encircled him and began to travel up his body, he saw the head of the monster turn back to face him, its eyes wide with what looked like awe. The rings died away to reveal his alter ego.

"Okay, big guy. Time to go home." Danny pressed his gloveless thumb against the genetic lock of the portal, the doors sliding open to the ghostly green abyss. The monster was making a choking sound now, its small eyes swivelling back and forth between the portal and Danny.

"Whoa, whoa," Danny held his hands up in front of himself. The monster was struggling to stand up now, "It's okay, greeny. I'm just going to send you home and then everyone can be happy."

Danny walked over to the monster slowly, as not to scare it, lifting one of its muscular arms over his shoulders to support it and began dragging it towards the Ghost Zone.

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Yay! Another chapter done! And for all the people worried that the other Avengers wouldn't be a part of this fic, don't worry. I love Captain America too much to leave him out. I just really like to build suspense. :)


	5. Mistakes

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Tony stood on the corner of the street until he could no longer see the Fenton's car. Turning around sharply, he made his way back to the large double story house. As he reached the stoop, Tony picked up a red and silver briefcase hidden in the shadows of the steps, before sneaking around to a narrow alley a few houses away. Usually he would transform into his Ironman costume in broad daylight without a care, but this time he was playing the situation incognito.

Scanning the house's exterior, Tony found a slightly ajar window on the second story. Setting his thrusters on minimum, he drifted his way over to the window and pulled it wide, searching the street for any potential onlookers. Satisfied with the empty street, Tony slipped through.

Turning off the thrusters and sliding his helmet back, Tony briefly noted that he was in a boy's room – a teenager's, most likely. The boy had a blueprints poster of the Hartman space craft, which Tony's father had helped fund when he was alive. The kid had good taste.

Navigating his way downstairs, Tony crept silently through the house until finding a door leading to what was presumably the basement. Taking a deep breath, he let the helmet's face fall back into place with a metallic clank and readied himself for what was on the other side of the door.

Natasha had called him almost half an hour ago. The boy – Danny, was it? – would have to be long dead by now. Tony's only concerns for the moment was to make sure _He _wasn't still in control or that Bruce wasn't grieving too much over the dead kid, making it more liable for _Him_ to regain control.

Powering up his thrusters again, Tony opened the door and swooped down the steep stairway to the lab below. Reaching the base, his eyes automatically went to the large green swirling portal on the far side of the laboratory. Following the green glow, he saw two large silhouettes making their way towards to void, one dramatically larger than the other. Tony had found Bruce. But who was with him?

"Hey," Tony called, voice echoing from the suit's interior, "Where are you going with my hulk?"

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Danny froze at the sound of an echoing electronic voice. It sounded like whoever it was had been autotuned.

Sneaking a look over his shoulder, Danny spotted a red and gold armoured suit. A triangular hollow in its chest plate was glowing an ethereal blue. Danny found himself to be a little bit dumbfounded – had this weirdo ghost-guy taken fashion advice from Skulker?

Danny sighed. It was time to show these freak-shows what side of the spectral plane they were supposed to stay on.

Dumping the drained and lethargic body of the green thing back on the floor, Danny said, "What do you mean _your_ hulk? If you're the reason you guys are in the human world, then you are going to learn why you don't mess with humans."

The armoured ghost was scanning the room as Danny was speaking. With a brief pause, the ghost asked, "Why aren't you dead, kid? Does bleaching you hair give you superpowers or something?"

Dead? What was Robo-Cop talking about? He was already dead. Sorta. Danny threw the robot a confused look, "Okay… Whatever. Oh, here's an idea. Why don't you step into my office? We can talk about this over tea and cookies." Danny gestured towards the portal.

"Very funny. Didn't know children had such wit these days." The automaton looked back down at the green monster, "Where are you taking Bruce?"

"Bruce? What kind of name is _that_ for a ghost? A bit lame isn't it? What do they call you? Inspector Gadget?" Danny simpered.

The ghost moved into an offensive position, "Stop playing games, Casper. Ghosts don't exist. And how can you not know who I am? I'm Ironman. Saved the world and everything." The ghost sounded affronted at Danny's lack of appreciation.

Danny mimicked the android, ducking low with his legs spread wide, "I'm not that naive, Herbie. And you and your giant green friend are going back to the Ghost Zone, whether you like it or not!" Danny cried, lunging at the robot.

A blue-white beam shot out of Ironman's hand, hitting Danny in the chest. Danny reeled back into the far wall, hitting the portal's control panel. The doors slid shut.

Surprised by the blast the halfa slowly stood up, growling, "Okay, I think it's time you had a little tété au tété with the fireplace, tin-soldier."

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Clint tapped his fingers against the large metal and glass desk in Nick Fury's office, drumming faster as his frustrations grew. Where was Fury? Clint slouched in his seat opposite the director's expensive leather chair.

"Waste of my time." Clint muttered to himself.

The automatic door behind him slid open. Nick Fury slowly walked into the room and around his desk to seat himself in front of Clint. The archer sat upright in his seat in response.

"For what do I owe the unexpected pleasure, Mr Barton?" Fury leant his elbows on his desk, placing his chin on his laced fingers.

"I was just wondering why you split the Black Widow and I up for her latest mission in Uzbekistan, Sir. You know we work best as a unit, not as individuals." Clint tried to keep his voice impersonal and professional.

"Mission?" Fury raised his visible eyebrow.

Clint leant forward in his seat, "I am aware that it was top secret, Sir. However, I think that I have worked with SHIELD long enough to prove my loyalty."

"It must have been a highly important secret mission for me not to even know about it." Fury replied nonchalantly.

Clint blinked, "Excuse me, Sir?"

"I believe you have been played a fool by the Black Widow, Mr Barton. There is no secret mission in Uzbekistan to my awareness."

Clint's eyes widened, "But… Stark said—"

"It appears Stark was simply covering for the Black Widow, who is on a more personal mission as Natasha Romanoff at the moment, with both Mr Banner and Mr Stark." Fury spoke as if he was talking about the weather.

"Well where is she?" Clint demanded.

Fury glanced casually at his computer screen perched on top of the glass table, "She has gone to join the Ghostbusters, by the look of it."

When Fury looked back up, Clint was nowhere in sight.

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Danny easily dodged out of the way as another power blast flew in his direction. Either this guy was extremely weak, or he was going easy on him. Danny guessed the latter.

Danny regarded the scattered burn marks on the lab's walls along with the busted control panel, and groaned. There was no way Danny was going to be able to open the portal for a while without physically forcing the doors open. He was going to be in so much trouble when his parents found out.

Danny twisted his head back to the robot. Snarling at the ghost, his voice harnessing elements of his ghostly wail, he powered a glowing green energy ball into his fist.

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Tony was highly surprised when Danny sidestepped all of his blasts. The first one had caught the teenager off-guard, but the boy had been quick to manoeuver his way around the rest of Tony's shots. Double-checking his power percentage, Tony notched it up to 0.6 – he didn't want to hurt the kid, he just didn't want him in his way when he was trying to make Bruce come back to consciousness.

The boy's head twisted away from him momentarily. Rookies mistake – that left the kid wide open for any sort of attack. Just as quickly though, Danny's head swivelled back as he let out a deep guttural growl. The entire room shook erratically and Tony had to take a step back to keep his balance. That was definitely not normal.

Looking at the white-haired teenager, Tony saw Danny's eyes shine a violent green, as he crouched into a low offensive position. His hand was glowing in the same manner Tony's did when he was about to release a power bla—

Tony cartwheeled fitfully to the opposite side of the lab. Crashing into the wall, he slid down into a pile of metal sheets and tools. That hurt.

"Hey," Danny called smugly, "I thought scrap metal would be a good look for you."

Tony gave up playing nice. This kid wasn't an average football lughead who drank too many protein shakes. Charging up his thrusters at 20 percent, he charged headfirst at Danny.

Before slipping completely through him and crashing into the other side of the room. Again.

"JARVIS, what was that?" Tony muttered angrily, sitting up.

"It appears that the child has an ability to become both tangible and intangible at will, Sir." The automated voice responded dutifully.

Danny was walking towards him at a slow and jaunting pace. "Now," Danny said, "I am going to force both of you back into the Ghost Zone, where both of you weirdos will stay and leave the living world alone."

Danny reached the still-groaning green monster, leaning down and hoisting it up, as if he was carrying a bouquet of daffodils rather than a nine-foot tall beast made of pure muscle. Tony angrily smacked his gloved fist against the ground before powering up again, aiming his hand at Danny's torso with full power and fired.

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Danny hefted the green ghost onto his shoulder. It was a little bit awkward to hold up due to its large size, but he managed.

Hearing a high-pitched whining sound emitting from where he had left the Ironman, he peered back, noting the suited ghost's glowing fist. Danny's hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the air crackled round him. This ghost wasn't fooling around anymore. If this shot hit him, Danny was certain he wasn't going to walk away in one piece. Danny steeled his legs in preparation for the attack.

The Ironman fired. A white-blue beam accelerated towards Danny, absorbing and burning the surrounding oxygen, fuelling its power. Danny waited until the last possible moment to turn intangible, allowing the beam to slide through him and incinerate the far wall – an echoing book shook the room as the wall smouldered. Danny cringed, well mum and dad always had wanted to expand the lab.

Still intangible, the halfa sneered at the Ironman, his eyes glowing victoriously. Danny was shocked, however, when he felt his shoulder unexpectedly slip through the green creature's stomach, almost dragging him in. Danny rolled it off his shoulder brusquely, shoving the monster onto the ground.

Ghosts weren't able to control other ghosts. They were only able to overshadow permanently tangible beings or objects. Danny then realised what he had done. He had just tried to throw a living thing into the Ghost Zone.

Whoops.

Danny looked over at the suited ghost – whom he now presumed was alive– and bit his lip, "Er… Sorry about the mix up, but can we talk about this? There's no tea or cookies though, sorry. My dad ate them all."

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	6. Regrets

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Danny ran his fingers across his face in exhaustion, "Look, I'm sorry okay! I didn't know you were a human! You said nothing to tell me otherwise!"

Tony Stark stared up at Danny with a blank expression, before abruptly punching him in the sternum with a gloved fist.

The air forcefully left Danny's lungs. Keeling over, he wheezed, "What was that for? I said I was sorry!"

"I just wanted to see if you would do that intangibility trick again. By the way, I am astounded by how you do that. Mind telling me how ghost-boy?" Tony carelessly glanced over at the fallen Danny.

Danny slowly stood upright, gasping, "You just answered your own question, you tin-can. Is your head metal the whole way through?" Danny asked, peeved.

"Okay, okay. I admit it. The paranormal does exist – yadda, yadda, yadda. I was wrong. Can we move on already?" Tony's face was set in a deep frown, "Besides, aren't you the Fentons' kid? How can you be a ghost?"

Danny hesitated, before squeaking out, "My parents? The Fentons aren't my parents! I just, uh… use the portal for travel convenience!"

Tony looked suspicious, before shrugging it off, "Okay, whatever you say, Captain Cadaver."

Danny ignored the jab, favouring to look around at the destroyed lab, "My question is why hasn't mu– I mean, Maddie and Jack shown up yet?"

"Oh, that? I may have sent them and your sister on a little field trip with my colleague a while ago. A good old ghost-hunt, in the city that calls its school 'Casper High'. How original. I mean, seriously? Bit of an overkill don't you think?" The corners of Tony's mouth were tipped upwards.

Danny grimaced, before sharply replying, "The school was named that way before the ghosts came along, okay? Don't ask me why," Looking down at the green monster laying on the floor where Danny had dumped it, he asked, "What do we do with Doctor Banner? Maddie and Jack will rip him to shreds in their excitement if they find him."

"Well, do you know how to carry several hundred pounds of semi-conscious green muscle inconspicuously?" Tony remarked sarcastically.

Danny ignored him. Tony frowned, "Hey, are you listening to me?"

Danny had leant down next to the hulking mass on the tiles, his intangible hand hovering over the monster. Danny flicked his eyes towards Tony, "I think I've got a plan."

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"Okay, this is far from inconspicuous!" Tony stage-whispered, as he followed Danny. Well, it was sort of Danny. The corpse-kid had somehow taken control of Bruce's transformed body and was wandering through the house highly imbalanced, "People are definitely going to notice!"

"It's fine," Came the deep slurred response. Danny seemed to be having a hard time using his vocal chords, "It just means that they're gonna leave us alone. Besides, they've seen worse." Danny faltered slightly in the monster's body, leaning heavily on a wall to regain his balance.

"Worse? How can seeing a big green Gamma-guy walking down the street not be scary?" Tony was half-jogging to keep up with Danny's large steps.

Danny didn't respond as he reached the front door. Grabbing the doorknob, he delicately pulled it open, wrenching the door completely off its hinges.

"Wow. This guy is at basics and is this strong? I'm glad I only had to verse someone like you instead of him."

"Hey, at least I don't go wandering around in a skin-tight one-piece!" Tony said defensively.

"Usually, I'd turn both of us invisible, but not even this guy has enough energy to handle that sort of pressure at the moment." Danny leant the door against the wall, before crouching at eye level with Tony, "So what's the plan?"

"Ignoring the fact that you are allegedly capable of turning yourself completely see-through, we should head to the outskirts of town. Preferably with a lot of vegetation for coverage. At least until Bruce comes to."

Danny grunted affirmatively, "We'll take rooftops." Forcing his way through the doorway, he turned and grabbed Tony by the torso, who gave a shout of surprise and pulled him out of the house, flinging him on the monster's back.

"Hold on." Danny muttered, before leaping up into the sky, landing on top of the large silver UFO-type extension perched on top of his house.

"You know, I can just fly myself," Tony nauseously stated, "There's no need for me to ride with you."

"Too conspicuous. A flying android is still a little out-of-the-ordinary in this town." Was Danny laughing at him?

Tony didn't have time to mull over it when Danny suddenly jumped again.

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Natasha was feeling bored and guilty. Not a good combination. Death by Bruce could possibly be less painful than listening to Jack Fenton ramble on about the paranormal. Was this karma for being too curious about ghosts, which apparently didn't even appear to exist?

Despite all the claims of ghosts made by the inventors and the citizens, Natasha had yet to see anything actually resembling a ghost. She felt horrible that a boy had died over a city-wide hoax. How was she going to tell his parents that they had accidentally unleashed a monster on him? She supposed she could run. Bring as little attention to herself and leave the state for good. It would just add a little more red to her ledger.

As Natasha wallowed in her culpability, her phone began to vibrate. Flipping it out and ignoring the Fentons' ravings, she whispered, "Tony?"

"Not even close." Came the short reply.

"Clint? Can I call you back? I'm sort of busy." Natasha mumbled.

Clint continued on, as if he hadn't heard her, "Uzbekistan sounds like a nice place for a holiday. I'm thinking of visiting there. Maybe we could catch up once you're done with your mission?"

"Seriously Clint, I have to go. There's a bit of a situation and I need to keep my line open in case." Natasha glanced at the odd couple at the front of the car. They hadn't noticed that they had lost their audience.

"Fine. I'll pick you up at the Chicago main airport tonight. No more games, Natasha." Clint hung up.

Natasha was in big trouble. She had made a childish mistake by coming, risking both the safety of the townspeople and Bruce's, and she was going to suffer the consequences when either Clint or SHIELD found her.

Sighing heavily, she pocketed her phone and raised her head reluctantly, only to find a pair of wary blue eyes staring at her.

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"Just to let you know Dan-Dan, I think I hate you." Tony said coolly, as they wandered through the thick underbrush of the forest.

"The big guy is beginning to wake up. I can feel it." Danny, still in his borrowed body, proclaimed.

"Great. We'll find a place to run and hide when it comes to." Replied Tony, analysing the surrounding trees to assess their visual coverage.

"Hide?" Danny asked confused, "Why would we need to do that?"

"Well just because you're dead, doesn't mean that I want to be, too." Tony finally looked the monster in its green eyes, which glowed in their deep-set brow.

"He must be strong to have you so worried." Danny countered.

Tony faked a shocked gasp, "Was that a compliment?"

Danny rolled his eyes, "Ugh, you're wasting my time." He didn't wait for Tony as he stomped further into the woodlands, "How deep should we go then, for it to be safe for me to release him?"

"Another couple of miles I think. The further the better." Tony called, jogging to catch up to the beast's large steps.

Danny frowned, "Not too far then. We don't want to risk going over the Wisconsin border. I don't know the area well enough." With that, Danny leaped into the trees, bounding deeper into the forest.

Tony glared at the green back, vanishing from sight, before charging up his thrusters and following. He wasn't going to let some smart-mouthed kid have the last word.

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	7. Dissuasions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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It was nearing sunset when Danny and Tony stopped at a presumably safe distance from civilisation. Danny had felt the monster growing stronger at a rapid pace, making it hard for him to overshadow it completely. He felt his control over the beast's mind slipping every so often, and Danny truly began to Tony's light-hearted warning about running.

The sky was beginning to turn a dusty pink as the sun set lower in the sky. Danny scanned the area for travellers or hikers. No one should be this deep in the forest if they had any sense.

Facing Tony, Danny announced, "I'm going to release Greeny soon, so if you want to run, I'd take this opportunity while it still stands."

"No worries. I'll just enjoy the show from up here." Tony quickly gathered power in his thrusters and kicked off to an altitude of thirty feet over the overshadowing ghost's head.

Danny watched Tony hover for a while before taking a deep breath, "Okay. One… Two…"

Danny dragged himself out of the monster, feeling lighter and more able-bodied as he completely severed his connection from the green muscle. Looking back at the creature, he watched it collapse to its knees. It wasn't really moving. Maybe Danny had overestimated the amount of power it had accumulated? Or perhaps it had used too much trying to take back control of its mind?

Small, angry green eyes clashed with Danny's as a sinister growl punctured the calm evening. Birds stopped chirping, squirrels stopped scrambling. Everything stopped.

Up above, Tony chuckled, "Hey, a little reminder; you might want to get out of here."

Danny turned his head sharply from Tony back to the green thing. It wasn't resting on its hands for support at all – it was leaning on them for momentum to charge at him.

The halfa slowly stepped back, eyeing the creature uncertainly. It was like a rabid bear, no sense of humanity left. Danny was taking as many precautions as possible not to anger it.

It obviously wasn't enough. With an inhuman roar, Doctor Banner's creation pushed off, rushing at the white-haired boy at an alarming speed. Danny had no time to react, he was too close to the monster. With a heavy fist, it slammed its knuckles into Danny's chest, sending him reeling into an old bur oak where he collided hard. As Danny slid painfully down, he heard the tree crack ominously. He rolled over to the side swiftly as it started to fall, exactly where he had just been laying.

The monster had shifted it attention away from Danny, thinking him to be either dead or no longer able to fight. It headed past Danny, back in the direction of the city.

Danny let the feeling of tangibility slip away from him as he into the ground carefully as the creature continued to stomp onwards. Rising through the ground to the left side of it, becoming corporeal again, Danny cried, "Oh, no you don't!"

Striking out with a fist of his own, Danny catapulted it towards a thick boulder, which shattered on impact.

Danny gave the monster no time to recuperate, throwing short blasts of ecto-energy at it until the young half-ghost was panting. Smoke rose off the crumbling remnants of the boulder. As it gradually dissipated, he spotted a large silhouette hunched over slightly, before it stood straight to its enormous height, swaying slightly with a heavy groan.

Danny shifted defensively. He wouldn't let the thing take him off guard again.

Finding its balance, the monster shook its head roughly before letting out another battle-cry, heading towards Danny with the speed of a freight train.

Danny centred his core, inhaling deeply in his abdomen and staying stock still. The beast raised another fist, but was halted by Danny's much smaller hands wrapping around his wrist. Twisting his body, Danny rolled the green thing over his back and slammed it into the ground. The earth split into deep crevices where the monster landed.

Jumping back out of the monster's reach quickly, he took a deep breath, holding it until he felt it would have the most impact.

Looking into the thing's vehement eyes as it stood again, Danny let out a hollow ghostly wail. It echoed through the forest, uprooting trees and destroying boulders. The monster stood in the center of the growing destruction, hands raised to protect his face, feet dug into the ground – it took the full brunt of the attack. Debris flew past and smashed into it, but it didn't seem to notice or care.

Danny was becoming tired. The energy was being sucked out of him with his attack. He couldn't do this for much longer. His voice died into a whimper, as he struggled to catch his breath.

The beast lunged, ramming a large foot into Danny's stomach, forcing him into the ground before its large meaty hand grasped Danny's ankle, whipping the boy's body around as it spun in a tight circle, faster and faster like a hammer thrower, before suddenly letting Danny go.

Danny cried out as he flew through the air, crashing through trees and smashing into the dirt, rolling to a stop over seventy feet away.

Danny slowly raised his head to peer back through the line of destruction he had unwillingly made, to where the monster stood. It was coming at him again with long lunges of its thick legs. Danny stood back to his feet, battered and bruised. Spreading his legs wide, he clamped his wrists together, holding out his palms towards the green creature. Summoning up all the ecto-energy he could stand to sacrifice into his hands, Danny waited until the thing was almost looming over him before he released it.

The green energy beam hit it directly in the face. The beast careened back, scraping the ground harshly as it landed. It didn't make a move to stand up again.

Danny grinned, stepping forward. He suddenly stopped as a sharp, stabbing pain ran through his thigh. Looking down, he discovered a large shard of rock jutting out of his leg. Swiftly pulling it out, he hissed in pain. Danny's whole body was sore, as he collapsed on the ground in relief. Now that the adrenaline had left him, he could feel the full impact of the fight. All Danny wanted to do was sleep for a few hundred years.

Spotting Tony up above in the bright night sky, Danny saw that the moon was full, and with all the ripped out and destroyed vegetation, the soft glow had crept its way into the clearing. He smirked and waved at the Ironman sardonically, before rolling over and passing out.

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Tony continued to hover above the clearing in disbelief. A mere teenager had gone against a creature that was capable of destroying cities single-handedly, and won. Barely, but still. The boy didn't seem to be too hurt.

Catching movement in his peripheral vision, he glanced away from the unconscious ghost-boy to the hulk, tensing until the creature devolved back into a man. Bruce was back. Finally.

The long green limbs retracted, his face smoothed out and his body mass shrunk, leaving a thin, scraggly and confused doctor behind.

Tony landed on the ground next to the scientist, turning off his thrusters.

"Ugh, who ran me over with a battering ram? Don't they know that's a stupid thing to do?" Bruce held a hand to his temple, wincing.

The scientist looked up at Tony, still in his full Ironman suit, disconcertedly, before surveying the battle-ground he had unknowingly fought on.

Tony observed the scene with fresh eyes. He supposed it did look bad. Splintered and uprooted trees, large sarsens half-crushed into rubble, and deep cracks littered the earth to make it look as if a demolition team had passed through.

"What happened? Did I hurt anyone? Bruce's eyes had widened to almost comical standards.

Tony shrugged, "Not really. It just seems the freak was beaten by another freak. Albeit a dead one."

Bruce looked astounded at the idea that anyone being able to beat his creation into submission, "What?"

Tony released a deep airy sigh, speaking slowly as if to a toddler, "The ghost-boy, Danny, beat your sorry green self into the ground. Literally, at one point. He's laying over there, the kid with the white hair. Can't miss him." Tony casually waved his hand in the general vicinity of Danny, not looking back at the ghost mutant.

Bruce squinted to where Tony motioned, "You mean the boy with black hair, right?"

"Black hair?" Tony slid his mask off, turning sharply on his heel and marching over to where he had left the fallen teenager. The white hair was gone, along with the olive tan and eerie glow. In replace, was a head of shaggy black hair and pale skin, dressed in a casual shirt and jeans. Tony leant down and placed a hand on the boy's chest, feeling a steady heartbeat in response.

Tony twisted his head and smirked at Bruce, who had limped after him, peering over Tony's shoulder, "Well, this just got a little more interesting."

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	8. Suspicions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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"You can't do this!" Danny roared, flailing his arms in frustration.

Tony looked on disinterested, "Uh, I believe I just did."

"You just– you can't– argh!" Twisting away from the multi-billionaire, Danny began to take deep breaths, loosening his clenched fists.

Bruce stood to the side of the conflict, watching the impending battle take place. Tony appeared to be purposefully spurring Danny on, and apparently it was working based off the smirk glued to Tony's face and Danny's ever-growing red one.

Danny turned back to Tony and leaned over him in an act of intimidation, "This is blackmail," Danny stated, "Completely illegal."

Tony simply smiled back up at him serenely, "Of course it is. That's why I'm doing it. Your parents lend me their notes and blueprints on their works, I fund any of their future programs that interest me, and I don't tell them that you're some sort of alien-morphing-freak-thingy."

"A ghost. Not an alien, a ghost. Big difference." Danny said, disgruntled.

"And on top of all that, I promise you that we won't report you to Bruce and I's unwillingly joined armed defence agency that will most likely exploit you and try to use you as a military super-weapon. Sound fair?"

Bruce was worried that Danny was going to have an aneurism.

"Military super-weapon?" Danny squeaked, stumbling away from Tony.

"I said we _won't. _Don't worry Dan-Dan, everything will be fine. All you have to do is convince your parents to let me become a partner in their work. That big portal in the lab leads to an alternate dimension?" Tony's eyebrow quirked up.

Danny nodded, shell-shocked, "Yeah, to the Ghost Zone." He mumbled.

Tony grinned at Bruce, "Can you imagine? A man-made inter-dimensional rift that leads to another universe is sitting in a basement of some absolutely brilliant scientists that use it to catch _ghosts_?" Tony crowed.

Bruce grimaced uneasily, leaning over to Tony, "Are you sure it is safe to play this game with Danny?" Bruce whispered, "I mean, if he's capable of beating _that guy_ into submission, don't you think we should be a little apprehensive?"

Tony snickered, "He's a good kid, Bruce. I wouldn't worry about it."

Bruce stepped back, musing over Tony's words. If the stories were true, Danny had saved the city multiple times without reward – even when he had been considered an outlaw. Looking over to where Tony was standing with Danny, coaxing him out of his shock – still laughing at the poor boy's expense – Bruce smiled. Danny really was a good kid.

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Jasmine Fenton had come to a conclusion. Natasha Romanoff, the pretty red-haired woman who had accompanied Tony Stark, was heading towards an emotional breakdown – which was understandable considering the company she kept. After seeing the torn-up house, surrounded by police cars and fire trucks, the woman had expressed a horrified face before simply slipping off without a word to her or her parents. Jazz suspected her disappearance wasn't just out of courtesy.

She was going to have a talk with Danny, see if he could find anything about her while she was still in town. The woman was acting way too suspicious.

Jazz crept through the house, trying to touch as little as possible as she gathered visual evidence. The emergency services had left over half an hour ago when the sun had begun to set, leaving the house silent. Walking through, towards the basement she noted a large indentation in a wall, as if something had collapsed into it. A ghost, perhaps? Her mum and dad certainly thought so. They were still in the lab, rampaging over their ruined wall.

Slithering down the steps as quietly as possible, she bypassed her ranting parents to look at the damage. Burn marks covered the walls, the portal's control panel was completely flattened, sparking every so often, there was destroyed weaponry and tools scattered across the room, and the far wall had almost been completely blown away, with almost four feet of rock and soil excavated from the large cavity. Jazz wasn't certain how structurally sound that made the house.

Her eyes wandered to a far corner of the room where the Ecto-Extractor stood. Stepping closer, she peered inside. The door and innards of the machine were slightly dented, as if something much too large had been contained in it recently. I had definitely not looked like that when her dad showed it to her that morning.

Glancing down, she stopped. Was that… cloth? Crouching, she held the shred of material between two fingers, studying it intently. It looked to be off a collar of a shirt. Her eyes swept the room, her parents were still focused on the wall. Good.

Jazz firmly closed the door of the Ecto-Extractor and headed back up the stairs. It was definitely time to talk to Danny.

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The tall thick trees were slowly starting to thin out as Danny, Tony and Bruce made their way back to civilisation. It was eerily quiet.

"Hey, um, I was just wondering something…" Danny asked, his voice loud in the silence, "How come you turn into a giant green guy? If that's not too sensitive a question, I mean." He added quickly, feeling a little more than rude.

"It's okay, at least you're more thoughtful than Tony was."

Tony looked aghast, "I give you nothing but compliments! Green truly is your colour. Brings out your eyes."

Danny and Bruce ignored him.

Bruce shrugged his shoulders at Danny, "I was developing the use of Gamma radiation and now I'm roommates with the _other guy_. I'm a regular Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."

Danny looked confused, "Gamma? Never heard of it."

Bruce raised his eyebrows, "At all? It's made quite an influence to modern science. The Tesseract let off quite a strong signal of it too."

Danny gave the two men a blank stare, "Okay, now you're just making up names."

Tony and Bruce stopped walking.

"How could you not have heard of the Tesseract? It was a huge part of the earth being almost dominated and consumed by an alien race last year!" Tony looked baffled.

"Oh, that cube-thing, right? I thought that was just a hoax to get more tourism to the city. You know, 'Come see our amazing town where real aliens have landed!' I mean, who believes in _aliens_ of all things?" Danny waved his hand in the air for emphasis, chuckling.

He looked over to see what the others thought about it, but found the expressions on Bruce and Tony's faces to be almost embarrassed. He wasn't quite sure why.

"So," Danny said, after a long pause, "Good to go? Because I have a ten o'clock curfew."

Tony barked out a laugh, breaking out of his discomfiture, "Ten o'clock? Aren't you like seventeen?"

"Sixteen. And my parents are strict when it comes to curfews." Danny frowned.

"Then we should probably start moving again. Wouldn't want Cinderella here to miss the midnight pumpkin home, eh?"

Danny stormed off ahead, leaving the others to catch up.

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Natasha headed through the automatic doors of the Chicago airport, her footsteps lagging. Her little endeavour had landed everyone in a lot more trouble then she had ever suspected. She could only hope that Tony was alright, but after seeing the state of the house, she wasn't optimistic. Natasha wasn't going to risk calling him, in fear of distracting or endangering the Ironman more. If he was even still alive.

Hearing someone approach her on her right, Natasha peered out of the corner of her eye, Clint Barton was staring directly at her. Schooling her face to become free of worry lines, she nodded her head in his direction.

"What were you thinking?" His voice was low, Clints own face was creased in anger.

Natasha didn't respond, just continued towards the ticket booths, head held up high. Clint followed closely behind, muttering under his breath.

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Danny sighed as they stood on a hill at the border of the city, "I'm not excited to see what my parents thought of our redesigning skills."

Tony elbowed Bruce in the ribs, "Some of your finest work yet, I think, Bruce."

"Me? It was Mr Magic next to me that did it!" Bruce retorted, pointing at Danny.

"I have _ghost powers_. Not magic. How come none of you get that?" Danny growled out, wandering down the hill, "You guys joining me tonight?"

"To have another lovely chat with your parents? I want to make it home with my sanity tonight, thank you. I'll come by tomorrow to talk more about our little deal then okay, Dan-Dan?" Tony said, giving the teenager a lopsided grin before skipping ahead down the slope, Bruce hurrying behind him.

"It was nice meeting you, Danny." Bruce called over his shoulder.

Danny rolled his eyes as the two unlikely friends slowly disappeared from his sight, "Geez, thanks. Nice to meet you, too." He muttered. Transforming into his counterpart, he flew the rest of the way home to meet his parents' wrath.

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	9. Possibilities

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Danny looked around the lab and sighed. He was stuck cleaning again. Despite his parents believing his lies about a ghost destroying the lab out of revenge against the _world's greatest ghost hunters_, they had still left him to clean and repair the mess.

At least they got used to the idea of the wall extension.

Dumping the contents of his dustpan in a nearby garbage bag, he made his way upstairs to the garage, where his dad kept his building tools.

Walking down the front stoop, he heard a grating voice call out, "Dan-Dan!"

Danny briefly considered running his head through the closest brick wall.

When approached with the idea, his mum and dad hadn't been nearly as opposed to collaborating with Tony Stark as he originally thought they would be, which was a relief to him and his secret identity. However, that meant that Danny had been stuck playing nice to the ever-mocking metal-man whenever his parents were around.

Supposedly he was a super-rich, super-smart, highly-esteemed billionaire or something. Danny didn't care, as long as he didn't let the 'your-son-is-actually-a-ghost' secret out.

"What do you want, Tony?" Danny groaned, pausing in his steps to glare down at the shorter man.

Tony's grin was insufferable, "Just wanted to catch up with one of my favourite families. Oh, and also to check out your blueprints." He added as an afterthought.

Danny just rolled his eyes and continued on towards the garage, "You know where they're kept." He called over his shoulder, heading around the corner and out of Tony's sight.

Now, where did his dad keep the toolbox?

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Tony casually wandered through the house he had quickly become acquainted with, turning to head towards the basement. It had been close to two weeks since he and Bruce had first met Danny, and he spent every moment he could tormenting the boy.

Tony didn't mind Danny, he kept to himself mostly and was intensely focused when he put his mind to it. His sister wasn't bad either, not as conservative in her opinions as her brother, but incredibly bright. Their parents were a strange couple though. Despite their passion for ghosts, they had yet to capture one. With over twenty years of failure, Tony was amazed at their resolve, especially since they had apparently only seen their first ghost a little over two years ago.

Walking down the steps, Tony looked around the almost completely repaired lab. Danny was certainly multitalented, the lab seemed virtually brand-new after the devastation they had created. The ghost-kid had even plastered and painted over the cracks that had run up the staircase, where Danny had had to squeeze Bruce's green form through the narrow alcove.

A tall cabinet sat next to one of the metal work benches. Pulling a drawer open, he rummaged through until finding the desired blueprint. Grinning toothily in satisfaction, he folded it into a tight square before shoving it into his jacket pocket and heading back up the stairs. He had a feeling that a certain Doctor Jane Foster and her team would take high interest in this particular machine.

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Vlad Masters was in a less than cheery moody. Running into Jack Fenton at the supermarket had not been on his mental to-do list. Maddie wasn't even there to bask in his glorious glow. Figuratively, of course. She didn't know about his ghost form or its glow and hopefully never would.

So, Vlad was now stuck with a blabbering Jack Fenton whom he presumed had never heard the saying, _a quiet mind cureth all_.

"You should come over and check it out sometime, Vladdie! It's totally neat-o!" Jack boomed with a goofy smile.

Vlad gave a grimace in return, "Of course dear Jack, I would love to visit. After all, it has been too long since I've seen Maddie and the children. And not forgetting you of course, my most incognizant friend."

Jack blinked at the unfamiliar word before his smile broadened, "Well, Vladdie, how 'bout you come around and check it out now? You're not busy are you? I'm on my way to pick up Maddie from the hardware store if you want to come along?"

Vlad perked up, his sneer now holding a morsel of humility, "Why yes. That is an excellent idea. Then we can all see this er… _Ecto-Extractor_ you're so proud of."

"Great! But first, I've gotta grab some fudge!"

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Doctor Jane Foster sat in her makeshift lab in New Mexico, frowning at her computer screen. Building a containable wormhole was proving to be only a scientific dream. Jane glanced over at the clock seated next to her monitor, it was almost five o'clock. Time for a break. Leaning back in her leather chair, she pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She was frustrated. Her resolve to find Thor was slowly diminishing and uncertainty was settling in. Maybe he didn't want to see her? Maybe there was too big a rift for a god and a mortal to be together?

Thousands of questions had run through her head in the time since Thor had left. Over half a year ago, she had heard rumours that a league of warriors had saved New York City from an alien invasion while she had been on her sabbatical, but none of the footage from that day was clear enough to see if any of them had been her love.

Jane stood up, making her way to the coffee pot in the small kitchen at the back of the run-down building. Her now-permanent assistant, Darcy Lewis, had her feet propped up on her desk, oblivious to everything except her iPod.

Picking up the pre-made coffee, she found it stone cold and highly unappealing. Deciding to make a new pot, she poured the dated contents down the drain. She didn't hear the sound of the glass doors slowly creak open and Tony Stark enter the room.

Jane turned, however, when she heard a faint sound of appreciation come from her otherwise silent assistant.

Seeing the man dressed in a red and gold suit, Jane jumped in surprise, dropping her empty coffee mug that smashed as it hit the floor. Jane felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment, but didn't move to pick up the broken porcelain.

Eying the strangely familiar man carefully, she asked, her voice falsely brave, "Do I know you?"

"We haven't met, exactly. But you know _of_ me." The man replied. He had a lilt of pride in his voice.

Where had she seen this man before? He certainly looked familiar, that's for sure, "Well then um… sir, what can I do for you?"

Darcy pulled out her headphones, pouting prettily, "And what can you do for me, too?"

He smirked in Darcy's direction who gained a whimsical expression, before landing his gaze on Jane, "I have a present for you, Miss Foster. A way for you to meet your little boy-toy from the Land of the Fairies."

"A way to meet Thor?" Jane stepped towards the stranger, her eyes intent on his face, "How?" She asked suspiciously.

"With this." Held firmly in his hand he presented a folded page of blue paper.

Jane timidly took the sheet and slowly unfurled it. It was heavily creased, but still legible. They were plans for a large hexagonal frame of sorts.

"I don't understand. What am I supposed to do with this?" Jane asked.

"Don't you know what these are?" The man looked incredulously at her, "These plans open the possibility of inter-dimensional travel. A way to create a stable and self-sustainable portal to lead you anywhere you want to go. Including the walking shampoo commercial's home-planet, Isgar, or wherever he said. I wasn't really listening." Waving his hand lightly, the man continued, "And Stark Industries is behind you in its development one hundred percent of the way."

Stark Industries? So this is where she had seen him, plastering his face across every billboard promoting clean energy, "Why would you want to help me, Mr Stark? What would you gain out of this?" Jane's voice was rising in anticipation.

"Nothing much, just a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach… And my name on one of the largest breakthroughs in technology of the century." Stark said quickly, before adding, "You might want to get started. I know from experience that gods aren't exactly the most patient."

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Maddie was growing annoyed. Vlad had not stopped staring at her for the past half-hour since he had invaded her home. It was getting on her nerves. Jack seemed as oblivious as usual, however, so she chose not to react as she otherwise would have. Her husband could be very sensitive sometimes.

Standing up from the lounge she had perched herself delicately on, she stated, "I'm going to go make us some tea. Dear, why don't you and Vlad go down to the lab so you can show him what he came to see." A smile stretched painfully across her face as she glanced at the mooning Vlad Masters, then hurried out of the room into the sanctuary of the kitchen.

Making her way over to the closest bench-top, she leaned heavily against it and exhaled, covering her face with her hands in exhaustion.

"Hey, mum. What are you doing?"

Maddie jumped at the voice, whipping her head up to see her son sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal. His face was brimming with curiosity. Maddie watched him fondly, he was so easy to read sometimes.

"Hiding." She admitted.

"Really? I wouldn't have taken you as the cowardly type." Her son gave her a cheeky grin, and Maddie was once again taken aback by how her little boy had grown into such a handsome man in such a short time.

She recovered quickly, returning the smile, "I am when Vlad Masters is involved."

Danny's smile fell slightly, "Oh. Yeah. I can understand that."

Maddie laughed, "Well I banished them both to the lab so I could have a slight reprieve. They're checking out the Ecto-Extractor. It's your dad's favourite toy at the moment. He is so childish sometimes." Her voice was tinged with affection.

Danny poked his tongue out in mock disgust, "Please, mum. I don't even want to guess what you're thinking. You're so easy to read sometimes."

Maddie blinked as her thoughts were unknowingly thrown back at her, "Yes, well. I think I'm pushing the amount of time I have free of playing hostess. If I leave your father alone for too long, he might do something stupid like invite Vlad to stay for the night."

Danny groaned in mutual disgust, "Yeah, dad'd probably even offer my room to him."

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"Hey, Vladdie, wanna stay the night? You can have Danny's room if you want." Jack boomed out unceremoniously.

Vlad was peering intently at the Ecto-Extractor with a keen interest. Turning he replied, "Why sure, Jack. That sounds like a splendid idea. I would love nothing more than to spend more time with you and your ever-so enviable family."

"That's great! I'll tell Maddie to make extra meatloaf!" Jack cheered, running up the stairs in excitement, leaving Vlad standing next to the Ecto-Extractor.

"Yes," Vlad murmured, as Jack left the lab, "More time is exactly what I need." He sneered, as he ran a hand across the shiny white panelling of the cylindrical machine. He had plans to make.

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	10. Creations

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Tony was deeming the portal a success. While it may not have been tested yet, he was mentally patting himself on the back in celebration of his creation. Many had rolled their eyes at Tony's smug expression, but he chose to ignore them. There was no reason for him not to act a little conceited, he had just finished building an interstellar portal, for goodness sake. Modesty meant nothing in the field of science. With the combination of both Jane Foster's and his own genius, the duo had altered the plans of the Fenton's Ghost Portal to form a direct route to the Thunder-God's home, Asgard.

Looking over at the beautiful physicist, Tony watched Jane twitch in anticipation. Her fingers constantly tapped against her crossed arms and her eyes flicked between the main controls and the portal's gateway.

"Nervous?" Tony leaned over her shoulder and whispered playfully in her ear.

Jane, while full of tension and anxiety, did not react to the invasion of her personal space, "A little." She admitted, glancing at the generators and back at the portal.

Tony leant back to his full height and scanned the room for any notable progress. Scientists and lab assistants shuffled around hurriedly, reviewing notes and franticly tapping on computers. Tony found the once-open New-Mexico lab to be too crowded for his liking. He liked his solitude. However, despite his photographic memory and prodigal mind, he was not overly versed in astrophysics or Norse mythology. He had skimmed over it as a child before finding the stories inane to his mental development, hence the team of workers Jane had hired.

They were a waste of money in Tony's opinion, having basically the same amount of knowledge in the field as Tony did. But he was being generous, letting Jane take full reign of the project, with only his slight assistance every so often.

"Doctor Foster? Mr Stark?" Jane sharply turned towards the voice, Tony mimicking her at a lazier pace, "The portal is ready for activation. All systems are running at one hundred percent." Announced one of the many faceless lab assistants.

Jane looked lost on what she was supposed to do next. Tony took charge, "Good. Galvanize all generators and run them at eighty-two percent. We don't want them to overheat for tomorrow. Make sure all controls are set correctly. We are about to change history. Oh, and grab my phone, will you? I want to give my friend a call. He'd probably think this is pretty swell, for an old timer."

Jane threw Tony a confused look as the lab assistant hurried to do his bidding.

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Danny had an itch in the back of his throat he couldn't get rid of. He always got an itch when his ghost sense went off, but no ghosts had shown up in Amity Park in weeks. Maybe he was just getting a cold. Shrugging off the thought and trying to ignore the itch, he continued rifling through the large cabinet where his parents kept their blueprints and plans.

Today, it was Danny's chore to alphabetise them. It would have been a lot easier if his parents had made any effort of sticking to the system, but they were always too overzealous about whatever big invention they had planned next to keep any sense of level-headedness, especially in their filing.

He was sorting through the letter 'O' now. Over half way. Danny was highly relieved at that fact, having spent a good chunk of his morning organising the files. Reaching the end of the folder, he moved on to the 'P' section.

Flicking through the blueprints, he hesitated. Skimming back to the front, he rechecked the folder of its contents, before hurriedly searching the rest of the cabinet. Reaching the end of the letter 'Z', Danny growled. Tony was going to be in _so_ much trouble when he got his hands on him.

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Whispers of excitement and expectation ran through the crowd of lab workers gathered around the large hexagonal frame, heads were bent to hide their murmurs and the portal's gateway received many apprehensive looks.

Tony stood in front of the metal structure, holding out his hands and gestured towards the room of quietened scientists, "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to consider something today. Each of you fine people have helped develop something that will change modern science permanently. Something that, up until this moment, had only been prospective theory." Tony paused. Hearing the heavy silence teeming with eagerness, he continued, "Now, I present to you a revelation in astrological science. We have come up with a method to create inter-dimensional gateways and allows others to travel to other worlds relatively unharmed. In approximately seventeen minutes, we will be doing our first test."

Applause broke out across the room. Jane seemed to lose some of her rigidness and stood with an easy-going smile. Stepping away from the portal, Tony found the atmosphere to have become much lighter and cheery, people mingled with one another as the countdown began.

Tony headed through the large glass doors, breathing in the crisp evening air. Exhaling, he looked up at the darkening sky.

"You know, for a place that looks so different from the other buildings in town, this place is really hard to find." A voice called out from his left.

Swivelling is head around, Tony smirked at the man before him. Dressed in blue-washed jeans, a white button down and a duffel bag hoisted over his shoulder, stood Steve Rogers.

"Steve! How are you? I hope the flight in wasn't too much for your old bones?"

Steve grunted, "I'll live," Gazing up at the modern glass building, he asked, "Now what was so important that you had to drag me out of bed at one in the morning?"

Tony stretched his arms out before dropping them by his side, "You seemed a little bored lately. I just thought you'd like to see something different. You're going to love this." Crooking a finger at the out-of-time man, he ventured back into the building, Steve following close behind.

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Steve gaped at the large metal structure in front of him. While he had seen some outlandish things in his life, including the Helicarrier, this had to be the strangest. The room was a mass of wires and lights, with a large hexagonal frame with heavy-looking metal doors seated directly in the center. Steve couldn't help becoming nervous at the scene in front of him. It reminded him a little too much of his genetic mutation testing.

Walking up to the frame, Tony slapped a palm against it, "Isn't it beautiful? My one true love," Tony paused, "Don't tell Pepper I said that."

Steve hesitated, still uncomfortable, before asking, "Er… what is it?"

"A big hunk of metal that will help us change the idea of science permanently. More than either of us have yet to at least," Tony's eyes flashed to a large descending timer displayed on a monitor, "And we have one minute and forty three seconds to the homecoming of Jane's boyfriend."

"Who's Jane?" Steve asked.

"You'll meet her in a moment. She'll be the one squealing," Facing away, Tony called out, "Okay, everyone, to your places. Make sure those generators are all running – we wouldn't want to have a power-failure at a time like this, now would we? Let's get this over with. Jane, you coming?"

A pretty young woman in a lab coat trotted over and stood next to the two men standing by the frame.

The woman tilted her head back to look up at Steve, "Hi, Jane Foster. Are you Tony's friend, Steve?"

Steve blushed slightly, "I wouldn't exactly call us friends, ma'am, but close enough."

Tony had moved to stand next to a control panel, "Counting down in three, two, one…"

A gleeful smirk spread across the man's face as he pressed the button, retracting the heavy metal doors of the hexagon to reveal the other side.

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	11. Passages

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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There were stars. Thousands of stars gleaming brilliantly from an unknown solar system. The specs of light captivated everyone in the room. Streaks of colour flew across the dark space before disappearing into the abyss. Nearby planets glowed dimly, their rings turning lazily. Large statues were littered across the land, gleaming under the night sky, with thick foliage growing in accordance with the buildings. The long rainbow pathway pulsed with energy, stretching on for what seemed like miles, leading towards a golden city. In the center stood a castle, which ascended towards the night sky like a rich brass organ.

Tony whistled low, peering through the portal, "Do you think they do time-shares?"

Steve shot Tony an annoyed look before asking, "What now?"

"We go through, of course." Jane Foster said, stepping towards the gateway.

Hesitantly, she raised a hand to the portal, brushing her fingertips against the thin veil between the two worlds, before adding more pressure. Her fingers slipped through without opposing force or consequence and Steve watched Jane Foster's shoulders relax, before gliding through.

The physicist's knees buckled slightly once stepping completely through the portal, however. Lab assistants squeaked and cried out in fear for their boss and Steve's muscles bunched, ready to run through and drag her back out of danger.

Carefully, Jane Foster stood up again. Waving a hand at the others through the portal, she called out, "It's okay. The gravitational pull is slightly stronger than Earth's, I'll get used to it." Reaching for her jeans pockets, she pulled out a modern designed walkie-talkie, before motioning towards the pulsing pathway, taking slow, calculating steps down before turning on the walkie-talkie.

Static echoed throughout the lab before Jane Foster's voice began to bounce off the walls, "Is it working?"

An assistant quickly typed into a computer before responding into a stagnant microphone seated on the desk, "Communications are up and all systems are running at ninety-eight percent."

"Great. Come on, Steve. Time to go." Tony slapped the captain on the back, picking up a red and silver suitcase leaning against a wall, before heading to join Jane Foster on the other side.

Steve looked confused, "Why do I have to go?"

"These guys must be as old as you are. You might be able to find someone to join you in a game of bridge while we wait as the two lovebirds get reacquainted with one another." Tony winked in Steve's direction.

Blushing, Steve hurried after Tony, grumbling in agitation.

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Danny growled from his seat at the desk, letting his head rest in between the pages of act five, scene two of the classic tragedy, _Othello_.

"Why art thou making me do this?" Danny groaned, his voice muffled by the book.

Sam threw a piece of popcorn at his head in response, "Because. Your grades are important, Danny. Especially with our final year coming up soon."

"She's right, dude," Tucker said, his eyes glued to the screen, tapping fervently on the game control, "Besides, by forcing you to study, Sam's promised to get me the latest game console three weeks in advance!"

In return for Tucker's hacking skills to hunt down Tony Stark, Sam was forcing Danny to read and memorise a Shakespearean play for an upcoming test. Tucker, in turn, was being bribed into not interfering, which he had no qualms about.

Sam rolled her eyes from her perch on Danny's bed, "Come on, Danny. You're almost done anyway. The test is tomorrow morning and then we can go see what Tony Stark is up to."

Danny lifted his head from the book, "Why do you care so much anyway?"

"Your mum promised that she wouldn't organise a family picnic with mine if I helped you pass." Sam responded quickly, trying to keep her popcorn out of reach of Tucker's pilfering hands.

Danny groaned, lolling his head back to the pages in front of him, his eyes unfocused and feeling heavier by the second.

Sam clicked her fingers, pulling Danny out of his haze, "Come _on_, Danny! Concentrate! You're almost done and then all we have to do is review the notes."

Danny sighed heavily, skimming over the text, _"Well, do it, and be brief; I will walk by: I would not kill thy unprepared spirit; No; heaven forfend! I would not kill thy soul."_

Sam narrowed her eyes, "Did you just threaten to kill me?"

Danny looked up uncertainly before answering, "I really don't know."

A thick blanket of silence filled the room, only broken by the gentle electronic beeping of Tucker's game, before the techno-geek cried out, "Yeah! New high score!"

Danny dropped his head back into the book with a heavy thud.

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Jane could feel the pressure of the air start to push against her the longer she was exposed to it. Her theory of gravitational density appeared to be wrong. While she wasn't panting as heavily as when she first travelled through the portal, her muscles were becoming steadily weaker with each step she took. She hoped they could find Thor soon.

"Come on," She grunted at the two men standing behind her, stumbling to regain their balance after passing through the portal, "Let's hurry."

They began to shuffle slowly down the pulsing bridge towards the city. Jane wondered at the deep cracks spread throughout the rainbow pathway, which ended with a drop into a deep void of space, nearby where the portal had opened. The man-made wormhole had since formed into a dense swirling green mist, which Jane desperately hoped would stay open.

Jane continued to move forward sluggishly, perspiration building on her forehead. Looking out of her peripheral vision, she saw Tony and Steve taking stronger strides than her own. Steve barely seemed to be struggling at all.

"This was not what I was expecting when I imagined a godly realm. I imagined more Jacuzzis and a public transportation system at least." Tony puffed slightly, catching up to Jane to walk steadily by her side.

Steve huffed, "Why would a god need public transport? You said it yourself, this is a godly realm. I can't imagine a god waiting to catch the forty-two."

"Hey, you're learning!"

Steve's cheeks reddened once again. Jane wasn't certain if it was from embarrassment or exertion, "I watched a few documentaries." He admitted.

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"Done! Finally!" Danny cried loping down the front steps of the school, Sam and Tucker hurrying behind. They hadn't grown quite as tall as Danny had.

Sam rolled her eyes, "Hooray. And hopefully this time you've passed so that our parents may never have to willingly be in the same room together," Turning to Tucker, who was amusedly watching a celebrating Danny, she said, "You can track down the scary boss-man now."

Tucker raised a finger to his chin, as if considering something, "Maybe my techno-skills would be at a higher capacity if someone got me a Might-Meaty Nasty-Burger meal?"

Danny froze in his celebration, fists still raised in the air, "What? No fair, Tucker!"

Sam glared at Tucker, before admitting defeat, "Fine. Let's go. But hurry up, we've already wasted enough time with this stupid test. Remember, this guy knows Danny's secret _and_ is an ex-weaponry manufacture. He can't be trusted."

Tucker gulped slightly, before hurrying off in the direction of their favourite eatery. Danny was already half-way down the street.

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Odin watched his son from his perch on his throne. Thor had been melancholic at best since being separated from his beloved planet Earth months before.

Watching Thor blankly stare out the large gold-trimmed windows, Odin called out, "My son, what ails you so?"

Thor didn't make any inclination that he had heard Odin, continuing to gaze out towards the scenery.

"Thor, as your king and father, I only have your greatest interests at heart," Odin leaned forward in his throne, "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Thor's eyes narrowed, "No, there is not, father. If you were to help me reach the Earth again, the worlds will become imbalanced by dark energy and I fear you will fall into a permanent sleep."

Odin chuckled, "Spoken like a true ruler. But you will not accept the crown?"

"Not yet, father. I have not deserved its glory. Only when I am at my strongest will I carry your burden." Odin saw Thor's hands clench, his eyes becoming more focused.

Odin waved a hand, slumping back and sighing wearily, "Do what you think is best."

Silence echoed around the room, as the two inhabitants became lost in their thoughts. Odin raised his head slightly at the soft pounding of footsteps heading closer to the room.

Bursting open the doors, a guard came to a halt, panting. Odin saw that Thor had dragged his eyes away from the windows to look at the man in the golden doors. Turning his own eyes back on the doorway, he frowned slightly at the guard's abrupt appearance without request of an audience.

"What purpose do you stand before us, before I sever your head for this pointless interruption?" Odin growled out.

"My lords, the bridge – they are travelling along the bridge! Heading straight towards the city!"

"Who are?" Thor spoke up, his interest noticeably peaking.

Wheezing slightly, the guard answered, "Beings from Midgard!"

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	12. Reunions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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"Man, am I full." Tucker slouched into the padding of the booth, patting his stomach satisfactorily.

"Considering you just ate the equivalent of four innocent cows, I'd hope so." Sam muttered darkly from her seat opposite Tucker, a salad placed in front of her.

"I have to say in all honesty, I needed this break. From school, ghost-hunting and my parent's new best friend, Tony Stark." Danny stretched his arms behind his head and reclined back into his own seat next to Sam.

"Dude, you can't complain about ghosts, there hasn't been any for ages. Not since your last fight with Skulker." Tucker pointed out.

Danny mused over his thoughts, "You're right, Tucker. I haven't even seen an ectopus around here. I wonder why?"

Tucker shrugged his shoulders, "Your karma points tallied up?"

"Let's focus now, guys! Tucker, you still have to do your half of the deal." Sam gritted out.

Tucker nodded, "Right, I'm on it."

Pulling out his PDA, he started a running commentary, "Since Tony Stark made his entire company run on a new form of clean energy, his phone has a slightly different wavelength signature to everyone else's. All I have to do is search through the different network wavelengths _and_… got it!" Tucker grinned, holding up the small screen in front of Danny and Sam.

Danny hesitated, "Uh, Tucker? What exactly am I looking at?"

Retracting his PDA, Tucker frowned, "That's strange. I had a signal just a moment ago from somewhere in New Mexico, but it's disappeared."

Danny leant forward in his seat, "What does that mean? Bad reception?"

Tucker tapped at his screen, a frown marring his face, "That couldn't be possible. Tony Stark's networking system is a work of art – its way beyond all the other competitors! Something like a weak signal shouldn't be able to completely remove such a unique wave signature like Tony Stark's from the satellite network."

"I still don't get it." Danny stated, confused.

Sam heaved a sigh, "It means that either something or someone is messing with the signal, or Tony Stark has actually created a functioning portal. We can only use the Fenton-Phones in the Ghost Zone, remember? Regular phones don't work, they keep shorting out."

"So I guess that means I'm heading out to New Mexico this weekend? Thank goodness it's Friday."

Tucker pumped his fist in the air, "Oh yeah! Beautiful beaches, beautiful ladies and beautiful ladies on those beautiful beaches just waiting for the T-Man to give them a little mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

"Tucker, do you even know where New Mexico is?" Sam poked her plastic fork at the techno-geek.

"Isn't it just old Mexico with strip-malls?" Tucker asked.

"Ugh, I give up."

Danny decided to intercept before the conversation turned for the worst, "Guys, please. Now is seriously not the time. Besides, neither of you can come with me anyway."

"What?" Tucker cried, a horrified look on his face.

"That's not fair!" Sam retorted, rounding on Danny, fork in hand.

Danny raised his hands guiltily, "I'm sorry, but the quicker I get to where Tony is, the safer for everyone. Just because he's a super-genius, doesn't make him smart. Who knows what he'd do if he got access to the Ghost Zone."

Sam relented, "Fine. But only because it's a crisis! You better call us and let us in on what's going on!"

Danny nodded, "Sure thing. Cover me for the weekend will you? I don't know when I'll be back."

Sam opened her mouth to respond, when Tucker clasped his hands together woefully, "Adiós, mi señoritas! I will miss each and every one of you and your bikinis."

Danny and Sam just rolled their eyes at him, "Idiot."

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Steve wished he had a gun. He was very tempted to shoot Tony Stark – nowhere of vital importance, just somewhere that would cause a little pain and give him and Jane Foster some peace and quiet.

"I'm serious. This kid is a living, breathing ghost! Can walk through walls and everything!"

Steve rolled his eyes, trekking forward and tried to ignore his companion.

"Isn't that an oxymoron?" Jane Foster asked sharply, rubbing her forehead. The pressure must have started to get to her, either that or Tony was giving her a migraine.

"Well, sort of. I mean, he is dead, but he's alive as well. Half-dead. His whole life is one big hypocrisy!" Tony chuckled at his own joke.

"So this ghost-child is both dead and alive, and is able to interact with both worlds?" Steve asked, his voice slightly mocking.

"Well, I haven't _seen_ any other ghosts but I suspect he does, the way he talks about them."

Steve shook his head lightly, "And you believed this child? Is this a part of that wild goose-chase that Natasha was talking about a few weeks ago? Besides, I highly doubt that one of the most famous ghost-hunting families would be unable to detect their own son."

Tony scoffed, "I wouldn't put the idea of ghosts existing past myself, if I were you. I mean look at where we are! We're on an entirely different planet ruled by mythological gods! Don't think that a kid in spandex isn't capable of drooling zombie-blood."

Jane Foster seemed to snap, "Will you two just shut-up! You're so freaking annoying! If it wasn't for the fact that I feel like I'm trudging through invisible sludge, I'd come over there and—"

Catching something in the corner of his eye, Steve peered down the electrified path, "What is that?"

Something was approaching them.

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Thor pressed his horse to go faster, racing in front of the guards accompanying him, Sif and the Warriors Three following him closely behind.

"Do you really think it's her, Thor?" Volstagg called out excitedly.

"Who else could it possibly be?" Thor could feel his heart pounding rhythmically with the horses' hooves.

There was a frown in Sif's voice, "Well don't get your hopes too high, it may not be her. I can see the humans now."

Up ahead, Thor could see three silhouettes. One of them appeared to be screaming at the other two taller figures in a feminine voice.

Thor heeled his horse to go faster once again and cried out, "Jane!"

He saw the shortest human turn and cry out something in return. Pulling on the reigns as he approached, he came to a halt, staring into the face of the woman he loved. She was still as beautiful as ever.

Sliding graciously off his horse's saddle, he whispered, "Jane."

The astrophysicist stood there in apparent amazement, before leaping at Thor crying his name, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him. Thor slipped his arms around Jane automatically in response. He could smell her soft scent, hear her ragged breath, and feel her heart beating erratically. He felt whole.

"I missed you." Jane mumbled into Thor's neck.

A wide smile spread across his face as he tried to pull her as close as he could without hurting her, "As did I."

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, he looked up. A guard stood before him, his lackeys standing behind.

"My lord, we must return to the kingdom quickly to find out how the humans got here," At Thor's glare he quickly added, "Odin's orders."

"Great! Can we book a hotel? I want to see what kind of room-service you guys have." Twisting his head again, he saw none other than Tony Stark grinning proudly along with a nervous looking Steve Rogers next to him.

Thor frowned, "What in the nine realms are you two doing here?"

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Danny was cold, hungry and tired. After speeding across the country for five hours at roughly one hundred and eighty miles, he felt he deserved a break. Seeing lights glimmer from a small town below him, he descended, hiding behind a small pet-shop. As the white light crept over him, returning him to his mortal state, he peered around the corner of the building. When no one emerged from the surrounding buildings he released a breath of exhaustion and relief.

Sneaking around the pet-shop, he slid onto the main street and, spying a diner nearby, tucked his hands into his pockets, whistling a happy tune as he ambled over.

Opening the door to the restaurant, ducking his head to avoid the doorway, he looked around the empty room. Everything looked new, which was odd for a town that, from a glance, seemed to pride itself in its heritage buildings. A waitress in a smock-dress uniform stood as the only other occupant by the milk bar. Danny pulled up a stool nearby the register and grabbed a laminated menu from a stand, scanning it briefly. The waitress glanced over, picked up her order pad and headed to Danny's seat.

"Want to know our beers?" She asked gruffly.

Danny wrinkled his nose, "No thanks. Can I just grab a burger with the lot?"

Jotting it down, she replied, "Sure thing. Drink?"

"Strawberry milkshake, please." Danny quickly said.

The waitress sneered, "Sure you don't want to see the kid's menu instead?"

Danny ignored her, sullenly leaning his elbows on the counter and ducking his head so he didn't have to talk to the waitress anymore.

The door's bell jingled, announcing another customer. Danny kept his gaze on the bench-top as the customer approached the counter.

He heard a feminine voice ask, "Hi. Can I get two steak and cheese sandwiches, six hot dogs, three chilli burgers and seven regular burgers to go, please?"

Danny lifted his head in surprise, catching the eye of the woman who ordered so much food.

"Celebrating?" Danny made conversation. It didn't hurt to be nice to the locals.

There was a long pause as the woman stared at him, before answering breathlessly, "Yeah, we just finished a big project and the group decided it was time for a break. We have champagne and everything back at the lab."

"Nice. So you live around here?" Danny sat up, stretching his arms over his head. He heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Only until I'm done with my degree. I'm working as an assistant for Doctor Foster – she's an astrophysicist. Works a lot with space and stuff." The woman abruptly held out her hand, "I'm Darcy. Darcy Lewis."

"Danny Fenton," He returned cordially, shaking her hand.

"So, Danny, what are you doing in this little old town? I take it you don't live here?" Darcy perched herself on top of the counter, ignoring the scathing glare from the waitress.

Danny shrugged, deciding the truth would be the best excuse, "I'm searching for someone – a family friend of sorts. He ran off to the desert with some of my parents' work plans," Danny smiled cruelly, "It's my job to hunt him down."

Darcy took a seat next to Danny, "Whoa. That's pretty crazy. You must be really mad about that. What do your parents do?"

"They're inventors. Pretty good ones too, I think." Danny said proudly.

Danny grinned as a large burger was placed in front of him with a small mountain of French fries. A strawberry milkshake accompanied the meal.

"Thanks." He said gratefully to the grouchy waitress. The waitress rolled her eyes in response and stalked off to the kitchen.

Pushing his plate slightly towards Darcy, he offered her some of his fries, before taking a large bite from his burger, moaning in delight. This was better than Nasty Burger.

He saw Darcy pick up a fry and pop it in her mouth, "So what do you do then, Danny? College? Office job?"

Danny choked slightly in his laughter. Swallowing his bite of his burger, he grinned, "That would mean I'd have to have graduated high school. I'm sixteen."

Darcy had a look of shock on her face, another fry half-way to her mouth, "Seriously?"

At Danny's affirmative nod, she twisted in her seat and slumped against the countertop, "Jailbait. Dammit. What is with men these days? First with Jane's boyfriend, then Tony Stark, and now this kid."

"Wait, did you say Tony Stark?" Danny asked, dropping his burger back on his plate.

"Yeah, he's working with Doctor Foster in her lab at the moment. We just finished this awesome portal-thingy. Hence all the food I've ordered. We're celebrating until Tony, Doctor Foster and their hot friend come back through and cut the party short."

Danny growled, a deep frown creasing his face, eliciting a surprised look from Darcy's own.

Noticing this, Danny smoothed his features and smiled consolingly at the young woman, "Sorry about that. You just reminded me of something I forgot I had to do." Mainly kicking Tony Stark back to last Thursday.

Darcy giggled in response, her posture losing the rigidness it had gained at Danny's sudden change of mood.

"Food's up," A gruff voice from the kitchen called. Darcy stood up hesitantly, glancing at Danny, before making her way to the packed food.

Danny saw his opportunity, "Here, let me help you with those. I can't have you carrying all that food by yourself can I? Especially at night." Danny offered, "Can I get this bagged to go?" He asked the waitress, standing up from the stool and throwing down a few bills in payment.

The woman simply grabbed the plate without a word and headed back to the kitchen.

Looking down, he saw Darcy gawping, "Wow. You're really tall."

"Er, yeah, I am." Danny awkwardly replied, before leaning forward to pick up the bags of food that had been placed on the bar, graciously accepting his own as well with a nod, before wandering towards the doors, ducking again the avoid the doorway.

"So, which way?" Danny asked.

Darcy grinned toothily, "Follow me."

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	13. Loyalties

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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The majestic hallway echoed with each step taken by the obscure group. Tall golden pillars stood grandly either side as they loomed up to reach a domed ceiling, adorned with traditional paintings of Nordic mythology – or what Steve supposed was actual history. The marble floors reflected the light from a neighbouring planet as the lights from the city below dimmed one by one.

"Wow," Steve whispered in awe, his head constantly twisting to take in each glimmering feature of the alien world, "This is amazing."

At the front of their escorted group was Thor, along with Jane Foster. Thor was hunched over, talking quietly to the astrophysicist with quiet smiles on their faces as they traded whispered words, standing close to one another as they wandered through the halls at a slow pace. Steve felt slightly awkward watching them, as if he was invading on a private moment, and so kept his focus on the scenery.

Approaching a large set of heavy intricately-designed gold doors, the thunder god called out, "It is I, Thor, Son of Odin. Open these doors as so I can present the humans to my father."

There was a pause before the doors creaked open slowly, presenting Steve to a lavished throne room. A long walkway led to a flight of marble stairs where, at the top, sat an old, powerful-looking man in an embellished throne, two guards stood either side on the platforms below.

"You have returned I see, my son. With good time as well." Steve watched as the man leant forwards in his seat. A flash of gold caught Steve's eye, making him stare curiously at the old man's eye-patch.

Thor fell to his knees in respect, the rest of the Asgardians following suit. Steve hurried to do the same, being one of the few left standing. Jane, having been pulled down by Thor, was already holding her arm across her chest in a cultural display of respect.

Hearing a slight rustling of cloth to his right, Steve glanced up. Standing proudly without any incentive of bowing to the god in the throne was Tony.

"Stark! What are you doing?" Steve hissed.

Tony lazily tilted his head towards Steve, "What? I'm a modern American. I don't bow. It's not my nature."

The ex-veteran caught many deadly looks from those in the room. Bowing his head he whispered harshly, "Your nature of what? Stupidity? This is a deity you're acting up against, if you hadn't noticed!"

"I thought that there was only one god for you?"

Steve grunted, "There is, but only when I'm not in enemy territory!"

Tony barked out a laugh, "Enemy territory? I say bring it on. I can take a god. I've done it before, and I can do it again," Tony smirked, nodding his head towards the front of the room, "Besides, I'm expecting reinforcements soon."

Lifting his head uncertainly, Steve found himself looking straight into the eye of Odin, who was glaring down at the two of them, and mumbled, "We're doomed."

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The party was in full-swing when Darcy and Danny arrived. The 'little celebration' Darcy had described on the way over exceeded Danny's simple ideas. These scientists really knew how to party.

Dropping the bags of food near the entrance and walking further into the large room, Danny followed Darcy to a line of computer monitors, covered in rows of numbers and words that Danny couldn't recognise or understand. The name 'Asgard' popped up more than once.

Standing on a chair, Darcy called for the attention of the room, "Everyone! I would like you to meet our newest friend, Danny! He's here to celebrate our great invention with us! Just be sure to keep him away from the booze – or at least don't let anyone see – he's underage," Darcy finished with a stage-whisper.

The room chuckled before a round of applause was held for Danny. The boy hesitantly lifted a hand in response, mentally scowling. Attention was the last thing Danny wanted – he had planned to silently sneak into the portal to drag back Tony and his friends unnoticed, before thoroughly destroying the portal and heading home.

As drunken physicists, inventors and astronomers surrounded him in an intoxicated cheer, he scanned the room for Tony's portal. It was easy enough to find, seated directly in the middle of the room on a raised platform. Danny had to admit he was impressed, whatever upgrades Tony did not only made the portal sleeker, but apparently portable as well from its lack of backing.

Shaking hands with people whose faces he instantly forgot, he inched his way through the crowd, towards the large hexagonal frame. The new portal seemed strange to Danny – rather than the familiar swirling green of the Ghost Zone, he saw a sparkling night sky which pulsed with colourful energy. It was too dark to truly tell what was on the other side. Maybe it was a new trick Tony made in his upgrade?

As Danny slowly made his way through the crowd, he noted the many generators. It would be easy to cut off the power supply and just collect Tony from his parents' portal, instead of playing this game of cat-and-mouse. All it would take were a few well-placed kicks…

Danny shook his head, tucking the idea back into the darkest recesses of his mind. If Tony and the others had truly made it to the other side, it would take up _way_ too much of Danny personal time to find them again. Besides, that would mean he would have to wait even longer before he had a chance to beat Tony to a pulp.

The crowd was still thick around him as Danny tried to inch his way through. However, due to his great height, he was an easy target and the scientists appeared to be a very friendly group of people, despite lacking in understanding of what personal space was. Becoming quickly agitated at the swarm of people still surrounding him, Danny blurted out in desperation, "Darcy's got food!"

Hungry and slightly-blurred eyes turned to the young woman still perched on top of the computer chair, before loud woops filled the room in excitement. As the crowds rushed towards a slightly panicking intern, Danny hurried up to the front of the makeshift portal. Glancing over his shoulder to check for spectators, Danny raised a hand up to the dimensional veil, before slipping through.

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Jazz Fenton had been holed up in her room for the past few weeks, trying to find out about that strange woman, Natasha Romanoff, who had invaded their home and disappeared without a trace. She had approached Danny about her suspicions of the woman being more than she seemed, but Danny had blown her off without listening. Jazz supposed she _had_ chosen a bad time to try to talk with her little brother – Vlad Masters had been visiting at the time, which, as always, left Danny in a very bad mood.

Jazz rubbed her eyes as the words on the bright screen started to blur together, reclining back in her computer chair. After many hours of snooping around, Jazz had found out very little about Natasha Romanoff except her real name, Natalia Romanova. Sadly, even that little breakthrough had led to a dead end, as she discovered that her birth-parents had died when Natasha Romanoff was young, with no leads to who her guardians were.

Hearing a floorboard creak, Jazz quickly put the computer to sleep and shuffled her way to the doorway, cautiously peeking her head over the lip to peer into the hallway ready for any jump attacks by ghosts or strangely secretive women. What she saw, however, was far from alarming – yet slightly disturbing. It appeared as if both Danny's friends, Tucker and Sam, had been trying to sneak into the house, which would have been easy enough if not for Tucker constantly crouching into barrel-rolls every few feet, fingers pointed like a gun. It appeared that Sam had resigned herself to plodding slowly behind, embarrassment evident on her face.

Jazz rolled her eyes, "Er, what are you guys doing?"

Tucker somersaulted into a wall in fright, "Jeez, Jazz. Give a guy some warning before you jump out of nowhere." He sat up, rubbing the top of his head.

Jazz closed her bedroom door behind her and leant on the frame, "Considering that this is legally my house and you are both trespassing, I'd say I have every right to, Tucker."

Sam smirked at Tucker's back, "She's got you there."

"So what are you guys doing here? And where's Danny?" Jazz crossed her arms in front of her.

"First, where are your parents?" Sam mimicked Jazz's posture stubbornly.

"They went to get supplies for their latest invention at the hardware store. Something about Dad wanting to show off to Vlad Masters because of how excited he seemed on Dad's last project."

Sam's shoulders sagged slightly in relief, "Okay, good then. We just came by to grab some stuff from Danny's room. You know, in case anything happens this weekend on our big sleepover…"

Jazz was quick to respond, "Well why isn't Danny with you now?"

"Because he thought hanging out with über-hot Mexican chicks was more important than hanging out with his friends." Tucker's voice was twinged with jealousy.

"Mexico?" Jazz squeaked.

Sam growled audibly, "Shut up, Tucker! And besides, how many times do I have to tell you that Mexico and New Mexico aren't the same?"

"Hey, I'm failing geometry. What do you expect?" Tucker simply shrugged as he stood up from his seat on the floor.

"It's geography, you doofus."

"New Mexico?" Jazz squeaked again, "Why is my little brother in New Mexico?"

Tucker and Sam stared at one another with twin looks of trepidation before turning back to Jazz.

"Uh, he thought his complexion was getting a little pasty?" Tucker hesitantly replied.

Jazz's eyes narrowed, "The truth this time. And don't leave anything out."

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Stepping through the portal, Danny ducked low, looking around cautiously. Seeing no potential threats, he crept forward, away from the opening of the portal, "Huh, this isn't any part of the Ghost Zone I've seen before."

Looking down, he found the ground pulsing – letting off an array of colours and sparks. Following the electric current, his eyes widened at the sight of a majestic bronze castle, visible even in the darkness of night.

Danny shook himself out of his trance, "Okay, time to get serious. Just grab Tony and his friends and go. No messing with the locals. Don't want to make any more enemies than I already have."

Danny focused himself and, feeling a familiar pressure build up inside of himself, he allowed a halo of white energy to rush over him, engulfing him before dissipating shortly after, leaving Danny as his alter-ego, Phantom.

Giving one last glance at the familiar swirling green of the portal entrance, Phantom took off down the path towards the castle.

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	14. Misconceptions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Flying low across the rainbow path Danny made his way to the castle, veering off to the right when the entrance came into view. It'd be best to go incognito in a ghost's lair. Some ghosts, Danny knew from experience, were very territorial.

Hovering out of sight below the castle's large bay windows, Danny looked around – searching for a way in without catching the attention of any ghosts.

Spying a hanging balcony a few windows along, Danny sped towards it, perching himself on the ledge to peer into the dark room, his back tense in anticipation. Hearing no movement, Danny slowly lifted a hand, encasing it in a green ectoplasmic glow and held it outwards. Gold ornaments glinted prettily in the eerie light, as large wood-carved statues of Vikings and mythical beasts stood menacingly by a set of embellished doors. Deep shadows were cast across their features, making them appear murderous and dark.

Lowering himself down off the ledge, the halfa slid forward into the room, arm held out in front, sticking to the walls as he crept further and further into the room, wary of the looming statues that glared down at him from their towering height.

Reaching the adjacent doors, he gently pushed them open, peeking around the edge of the doorway to find a deep descending staircase. Scanning the area, Danny quietly shut the door behind himself before gliding down the steps to where another set of doors stood. Unlike the grand doors he had just passed through, these doors were a plain iron grey, the surrounding walls austere and plain. Whatever was on the other side of these doors was meant to be kept hidden.

Curiosity overran him. Extinguishing his glowing hand, he gently pulled one of the handles, dragging the door open. Danny's eyes widened slightly as he found himself at an entrance of a narrow lit corridor, niches littered either side, hiding strange objects Danny assumed were highly valuable.

Walking down the narrow path, Danny made his was to stand in front of a short podium. The halfa's eyes narrowed at the throbbing blue-white cube stationed on top. It radiated immense power making Danny was hesitant to touch it.

Splaying his hand cautiously, Danny placed his fingers around the edges of the cube. It was warm in his palm as energy coursed through him like electricity, beating in rhythm with his heartbeat. Danny felt invigorated.

"A Draugur!"

Whipping his head around, Danny found an odd man in old-fashioned armour standing opposite him, brandishing a spear, fear evident on his face.

"W-we do not want any t-trouble, Draugur! S-step away from the Tesseract! G-go back to your M-m-mistress!" The man jabbed at the air with the spear, his voice quavering.

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Uh, okay then... Hey, do you know where I can find a guy called Tony Stark? Dark hair, big glowing thing sticking out of his chest, really annoying?"

"S-step away from the Tesseract, D-draugur! I-I-I am willing to fight to d-defend it!"

Danny lifted his hands in submission, his right still clutching the blue cube, "Okay, seriously. I have no idea what you're talking about. Is this some kind of time-realm, like Dorothy's, except with Vikings instead of knights? Because I have to say, the chest-plate-and-cape-thing has never been my style." Stepping forward to placate the man, Danny attempted a charming smile.

It didn't work. Reeling back in fright, wielding his spear with wild fervour, the Viking screamed, "We're under attack! Helheimans are after the Tesseract!"

Danny quickly side-stepped the nearly nonsensical man who had begun to erratically stab at the air, before flying through the heavy grey doorway and back up the stairs. Barging through the decorative doorway, clutching the cube to his chest, Danny dove for the balcony ledge, catapulting himself off to gain momentum.

Turning back to face the side of the castle, glancing through the windows, Danny saw more men dressed in armour running in distress towards the cube's room.

Ducking out of sight, Danny tried to catch his breath, "Okay, note to self, Vikings are not the best conversationalists."

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Thor had very rarely seen his father angry. Disappointed, yes. Agitated, less so. But _truly_ angry, Thor had only ever seen once. In that anger, Thor had been banished to Earth to suffer as a mortal due to his arrogance. Tony Stark, however, had just committed an act much worse. Tony had just disrespected and degraded the ruler of Asgard and peacekeeper of Yggdrasill in less than two minutes of his company.

Thor felt Jane curl up in his side at the sight of Odin's fierce glower. Wrapping an arm around her, Thor looked back at his two mortal companions. Steve appeared to be having an internal debate with no sides winning. Fear was evident in his stiff shoulders, yet the glares thrown in Tony's direction challenged Thor's father's own. Tony in defiance was simply staring at his watch and looking around the room, as if expecting something to happen.

Odin's voice rumbled throughout the throne room, "You dare belittle me, mortal creature of Middle Earth? Do you not know of my abilities and power? Bow down in respect or face the consequences."

Tony replied by clicking his tongue in a distracted manner, tapping at the glass screen of his watch.

A guard brandished a sword at Tony, pointing its tip at his neck, "The great Odin commands you to kneel!"

"I'd rather stand, thanks. I have something much scarier than a god after me and I don't want to be at a disadvantage."

Odin reclined back in his throne, his knuckles white in anger as he gripped the arms, "Oh? And what would be more fearsome than I, the great Odin?" The deity gritted out.

Tony chuckled, "Hypocrisies."

A large bang echoed through the room as the large doors were shoved open. A team of guards stood panting.

Stepping further into the room they kneeled, before one cried out, "My lord, it has taken it! It has taken the Tesseract!"

Thor stood up, Jane quickly following suit, "What has? What has taken it? The Frost Giants?"

The guard shook his head at Thor. Taking a rattling breath, he replied, "No, my liege, a Draugur of Helheim!"

A heavy silence blanketed the hall. No one made a sound.

"Where is the Draugur now?" Thor growled.

The guard hesitated, "Well…" nudged forward by his teammate, the guard continued, "W-we appear to have lost it."

Thor felt a powerful presence by his side. In his peripheral vision he found his father standing next to him.

"You lost the Draugur?" Odin's voice was deep and menacing.

The guards ducked their heads, a new one calling out, "Only momentarily, you highness. It appears to be searching for something. It most likely has not left Asgard yet."

Odin scowled, "Scour the land to detain the Draugur and return the Tesseract to its rightful place. I will join you in this hunt, as will my son, Thor." With a flick of his cape-tail, the deity left, the guards shadowing his footsteps.

"You were lucky." Thor heard Steve mutter to Tony in a disgruntled manner.

The Thunder God could almost hear the smirk in Tony's voice, "I wouldn't say that. I would say something more along the lines of manipulative."

Their voices drifted away as they walked further down the hallway, following after Odin and his guards, red and silver suitcase in hand.

As the final guard left following Odin, Jane tilted her head up at Thor, "What's a Draugur?"

Thor looked long and hard into Jane's soft brown eyes, "They are one of the most fearsome and dark creatures of the nine worlds, residing in the lowest of the realms, Helheim. Their ruler, Hel, was a deity who was banished to reside with the Draugurs for eternity," Thor took a harsh breath, "On Earth I suppose you would call a Draugur the un-dead."

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Danny threaded his way through the low buildings of the city, trying to catch a glimpse of Tony. Sadly, he had yet to find any trace of the kleptomaniac inventor.

Balancing himself on top of a roof near the castle, he scoured the streets. Still seeing no sign of Tony, Danny became worried. Despite the fact that the metal man had stolen his family's legacy and greatest achievement, Danny would not be able to bear the guilt if Tony or his friends had gotten hurt in their exploration of the Ghost Zone.

Dull noises were emitting from the castle, sconces were set alight, casting long shadows against the rest of the city. Danny watched with interest through the large windows as Vikings hustled through the corridors, heavily armed with antique weaponry.

The voices were getting louder. Angry and frightened shouts of "Draugur" echoed through the city as a horn was sounded. Danny twisted his head as the city began to light up. The golden buildings appeared to burst into flame as each household glowed, spreading out across the horizon.

Ducking low into the shadows of the roof he crouched on, Danny tucked the blue cube closer to his chest, trying to hide its glow. He turned back to the castle to watch the battle preparations. It was going to be extremely difficult to find Tony and his friends now.

Pausing, Danny leaned out as far as he risked on the roof. Staring back through the windows of the castle, Danny saw two figures walking at a more casual pace. The taller of the two was blond and stood almost half a head over the second. The other had darker features visible even in the dark by the blue-white glow emanating from its chest.

Danny grinned darkly. He'd found them.

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Thor swiftly strode through the halls, following after where Tony and Steve left. Jane was hurrying alongside him, attempting to keep up with his long gait under the strain of the heavier gravity.

The alarm had just sounded. The conch shell's song still reverberating through the empty night.

"We must hurry." Thor called over his shoulder, walking faster.

Turning a corner sharply, Thor spied Tony and Steve up ahead, arguing. The nearby planet's luminosity was streaming through the window and the glow from Tony's chest seemed eerie.

"–If you had hurried up, we wouldn't have lost them!" Steve cried, shaking his hands at the shorter man.

"What's it matter? Whatever's coming will go straight for what it's looking for anyway. I doubt it would want to fight a whole army." Tony placed his suitcase on the ground next to him.

"Which is exactly why we should be with the others! We wouldn't want to be caught off-guard by this Draugur thing!"

Tony waved him off, stating, "Don't worry, he's harmless."

"He? What do you mean _he_?" Steve narrowed his eyes.

Tony was about to reply when a glowing green energy beam burst through the ceiling-high glass window, missing Tony by less than a foot's distance. Shattered glass rained down on the three mortals and god as they instinctively raised their arms in protection, cries of shock and surprise penetrated the air.

Lowering his arms, Thor looked up. On the window's ledge stood a tall, humanoid creature, garbed in black with glowing green eyes. Thor shivered – they were Hel's colours.

Steve whispered, "_That's_ what you call harmless?"

The Draugur stood motionless in the frame, analysing all the occupants in the room. Baring its teeth, it released a feral growl, "Stark!"

"Dan-Dan! Long time, no see! How's the family going?" Tony flicked loose glass off his shoulder before spreading his arms wide towards the Draugur.

The Draugur returned the salutations with a glare.

"Give them back." It gritted out, jaw clenched.

Tony looked as if he was contemplating what the creature had said, before shaking his head, "No, I'd rather not just yet. Besides, I think you've taken something important from my fellow Asgardians. Don't you think you should return that first before demanding something yourself?" Tony nodded at the Tesseract held in the creature's hand, shoving his hands into his pants pockets.

Thor spoke up, "Return the Tesseract to its rightful owners, Draugur! It does not belong to your kind!" Grabbing Mjölnir off his belt, Thor held it proudly in front of himself.

The Draugur glanced over him, "Whatever, Viking. I don't have time for this. Take your stupid box back. It doesn't do much anyway except make a good disco ball."

Tossing the Tesseract at Thor's feet, The Draugur turned its attention back to Tony Stark.

Thor frowned deeply in disgust, "You dare call me a simple Viking, Hel-spawn? I will teach you a lesson on how to treat a god!"

Advancing at a terrifying speed, Thor swung his hammer, aiming for the Draugur's head. He was surprised to find it had missed.

"Hey! Watch where you're hurling that thing! Didn't you know that the misuse of tools in an enclosed environment is one of the leading benefactors of domestic injury? Plus, I'm sure your mother would be mad if you got blood on the curtains."

Thor roared, swinging Mjölnir above his head before releasing it at the Draugur once again.

Ducking low, the creature held its palm out towards Thor, its entire hand becoming encased in a green aura. Before Thor could react, the beam glanced off his jaw, spinning him off balance onto his knees.

The Draugur didn't wait for Thor to stand as it attacked again. Darting forward, it pulled back a closed fist, sending it deep into the deity's stomach – who automatically keeled over – then raising its other to hit him in the cheek.

Falling on his back Thor looked up at the looming figure. Both of its hands were glowing, aimed at his torso.

The Draugur smirked, "I feel a little bit bad fighting like this, but I'll make it up to you next time I kick your butt."

The Draugur was suddenly pulled away from Thor's eyesight with a yelp. Sitting up, the Thunder God saw that Steve had stepped in to the fight, swinging a wild fist into the Draugur's neck.

Falling back, the Draugur gasped for breath, hiccupping slightly before kicking a foot out, tripping the ex-veteran who fell heavily to the floor.

Seeing his chance, Thor quickly stood and called out, "Mjölnir!"

The hammer flew from the other side of the room where it had lodged itself into a wall, the Draugur had to dodge slightly to stay out of its path, which was doubled over, still struggling to breathe.

Spinning with the momentum of his catch, Thor twisted and jumped, raising the hammer above his head to smash it down into the Draugur's spine.

The hit slammed the creature down into the ground, the flooring cracked under the pressure.

The Draugur didn't move. Pressing harder into the creature's ribs with Mjölnir, Thor stood up, looking down at the creature's lax body.

Steve sat up, "You know, Tony, you're not much help in these types of situations."

"Hey, come on! I was mentally cheering you guys on! You pretty much had it covered anyway!" Tony shrugged his shoulders, hands still tucked in his pockets.

"I don't think this collaboration project is going to work after all Tony." Jane commented, a frown creasing her face, "What did it want you to give back, by the way?"

"Nothing important." Tony smoothly replied.

"Well, whatever it was, it was obviously important to _it_." Steve hefted himself back up, walking up next to Thor to stare at the Draugur.

Thor slipped a boot under the Draugur's torso, about to flip it over onto its back, the arm holding his hammer raised.

"Don't hurt it too bad!" Jane cried.

Thor and Steve gave her an odd look, "Why? It just tried to kill us."

"No it didn't! Didn't you listen to it? It said 'next time' it fought you. It never had any intention of killing you!"

Slanting a look at the unconscious Draugur, its face concealed by the crumbling floor, Thor carefully turned it face-up.

Only to stare right into the violent green eyes of the creature.

Raising both hands, palms out flat, the Draugur generated another energy blast, hitting both Steve and Thor in the chest, blasting them into a nearby pillar. Deep fractures ran up the length of the beam as the room shook slightly. Twin groans of pain escaped the duo.

"Oops. Maybe not." Jane squeaked.

Flipping onto its feet, the Draugur tucked itself into a defensive pose, a glowing hand outstretched.

Trying once again, Thor flailed his arm holding Mjölnir, hurling it at the Draugur with a howl, "Come on!"

Flying wide, the hammer crashed through another pillar, clacking noisily as it fell to the ground.

Thor leant heavily on the wall to heave himself back up. The Draugur hadn't moved, watching the god closely.

Letting out a fierce battle cry, Thor charged headlong at the Draugur, calling back the hammer as he ran, which loyally zoomed back. Catching it in his grasp, Thor leant back to gain impetus only to be tossed away by a green barrier. Shoved hard onto the ground, Thor tumbled a few times before rolling to a stop.

Lifting his head, Thor let out an animalistic roar. Swinging riotously, the deity attacked with an unfound ferocity, the Draugur hurriedly back-stepping to escape the dangerous blows, its eyes focused on the weapon. Thor began to pin-wheel Mjölnir in front of himself as the Draugur released green rays in its attempt to dodge the dangerous hammer. Walls and flooring began to crack and collapse as the fight intensified. Jane, Tony and Steve had long hidden themselves out of range beneath a broken pillar.

Thor was getting desperate. The longer the fight went on, the more likely Jane could be injured. Jumping back out of range, his mortal friends hidden behind him, Thor once again lifted his hammer above his head, standing strong. Outside the night sky darkened, clouds rolled in as thunder rumbled menacingly above their heads. With a yell, lightning collided with Mjölnir as Thor brought his hammer down into the marble floor, obliterating it as a shockwave of debris headed for the Draugur, currents of electricity chasing its path.

The Hel-creature tried to evade the attack – encasing itself in another transparent shield – but the impact was too strong. Lightning bounced off the shield in a wide arc, smashing into walls and ceiling in a vicious light-show before penetrating the barrier, slamming into the Draugur with a blinding white light. The Draugur fell to the floor hard with a cry of pain, leaving a deep crater in its wake as the room trembled.

The storm clouds dissipated as Thor was left panting heavily with a grin. It was over. There was no way the Draugur could get up after a blow like that.

Slow clapping echoed through the room. Looking over his shoulder, Thor saw that Tony had crawled out from under the pillar, a smirk evident, "Nice job. If it was me, I would have done things a little less, well – for lack of a better word – _flashy_."

Jane's head popped out, as she leaned over and punched Tony.

"Ouch! What was that for?" The playboy grumbled, rubbed his sore arm.

Jane huffed, "That's for getting Thor to fight your battles for you! The Draugur was after you, wasn't it?"

"Hey, the hair model was the one that jumped into _my_ fight, I just didn't bother stopping him! It was his choice! What do you think I brought this for?" Tony patted his suitcase fondly.

Steve leant out from under the shelter, hands hovering over his ribs cautiously, "You _knew_ that thing was going to come here?" He ground out angrily.

Tony looked nonchalant, "Well, yeah. I told you all about him, didn't I?"

Thor raised an eyebrow, about to ask Tony who exactly _he_ was, when he heard a hollow moan erupt deep from within the crater where the Draugur had fallen. Grasping the hilt of Mjölnir tightly, Thor took tentative steps towards the marble depression.

From behind him, Thor heard Tony follow, "I wouldn't do that," He warned, "The kid's bark is way worse than his bite."

"What in Odin's name do you mean by that?" Thor asked, leaning over the lip of the hole.

The Draugur was half-conscious, eyes unfocused, taking in heaving breaths and making a keening high-pitched sound. Thor's ears rang as he hastily pulled his head back.

"Okay, seriously, I recommend you move right now." Tony tugged Thor by the back of his cape, dragging him behind some fallen debris just as a loud, ear-splitting wail reverberated through the air. It seeped into his bones, making him feel empty and cold, etching into the darkest corners of Thor's mind. Tony was hunched over, clutching at his head to cover his sensitive mortal ears, looking as the god felt.

Tentatively raising his head, Thor found that portions of the floor and walls were being blown back as the ceiling shook precariously with a low rumble. Cracks began to run throughout the mosaic, already weakened by the lightning.

The wailing continued as fragments of the ceiling came loose, smashing against the floor. Thor heard Jane shriek from under her shelter as the ceiling began to camber dangerously.

With a choking cough, the Draugur's howl died out.

Taking his hands off his ears, Tony turned to Thor with a smug grin, "Well that could have been worse."

Then the roof collapsed on top of them.

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	15. Invasions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Vlad Masters prided himself as a patient and committed man. After all, he had waited for over twenty years to win over the love-of-his-life, Madeline 'Maddie' Fenton, destroy her babbling, useless husband, Jack, and – more recently – allow their son to constantly thwart his plans in stealing his mother and murdering his father.

Looking around the alien planet, Vlad smirked. His patience truly had paid off this time. After surveying the Fenton family for weeks after the discovery of the fat idiot's great invention, the Ecto-Extractor, Vlad was finally ready to put his plans into action.

Gaining access to the Asgardian portal was simple enough. The astrophysicist, Jane Foster's, assistant had been easily dealt with, along with her superior, Erik Selvig. Overshadowing the man had been a simple process, as Vlad had learnt from generous amounts of research that the man's mind had already been influenced before by a Norse god called Loki, who was the reason for a major inter-galactic terrorist attack in New York City over half a year ago.

Stepping onto the rainbow path, Vlad allowed the dark energy rings to travel over him, transforming him into his alter-ego, Plasmius.

Hovering slightly in the air, a few inches off the ground, Vlad grinned. Everything was falling into place exactly as planned.

A sharp scraping of metal reached his ears. Vlad turned his head in response, a glowing pink hand raised defensively. A dark skinned man stood there in elaborate golden armour, brandishing a sword at him.

"As Gatekeeper and Omniscient of Asgard, I shall say you are not welcome here." The Asgardian spoke in a level voice.

Vlad narrowed his red eyes, "Oh, and what are you going to do to stop me?"

The god held his ground, "I have seen to letting the first Draugur through, for he is worthy. You are not. Go back to Helheim where you belong, death-creature, or face the wrath of Asgard."

Vlad threw back his head, laughing, "I'd like to see you try!" Licking his sharpened teeth, Vlad lunged at the guardian.

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Danny felt like he was suffocating. Opening his eyes to a thick blackness, he panicked. His breath shortened as he looked around the dark wildly, his neck throbbing in response to his hasty actions.

Stilling his movements and trying to take slow and shallow breaths – as his ribs ached painfully – Danny pulled his hands up to his sides, ignoring the pain of whatever appeared to be digging into his leg.

Raising his hands in front of him, he flattened his palms against a jagged surface. Taking a deep, restricted breath, Danny struggled to phase through whatever was pinning him down, only to find himself in his human counterpart, too drained to transform back into his ghost form. Forcibly slowing down his breathing, Danny tried to make himself comfortable, shoving his leg as far away as possible from whatever was attempting to amputate his leg.

Twisting slightly on his side, Danny attempted to recollect his thoughts. The last thing he remembered was seeing white bolts of lightning heading straight for him. That – alongside the memories of the many painful hits the blond Viking had given him – made Danny notice how much his body ached. His back and ribs were the most tender after the slam he had taken to his spinal column. He was going to be black and blue for days.

Letting his body fall lax, Danny heaved a sigh, shifting slightly to try to once again become comfortable.

Feeling the sharp poke in his leg again, the halfa shuffled his head to the side to peer down in hopes of physically moving whatever was digging into him. His eyes widened in surprise. Jabbing into his calf sharply was the glowing blue cube, half covered in loose rubble.

Sliding his hands back down to his side, Danny began to twist and drag himself down far enough in the narrow cavern to grip the cube, shoving away loose debris to gain a better hold on it.

Tugging it out, he clasped it to his chest, mentally berating himself for his hasty move in an unstable environment. At any moment, all of the debris could come crashing down on him, either suffocating or crushing him.

As Danny grasped the cube, he felt warmth seep through him, creating the illusion that the pain was ebbing away.

Danny jolted out of his stupor. He actually _was_ beginning to feel the pain recede. An almost inconspicuous glow was consuming him, running across his body, which absorbed it as it lent him more and more strength. The cube was healing him.

Closing his eyes, Danny felt the energy from the cube begin to retreat back inside itself.

Danny breathed deeply through his nose, exhaling the dusty air with a cough. Feeling the familiar white rings consume him, the half-ghost grinned.

Still holding the cube, Danny let his powers of intangibility crawl over him, before slipping through the debris, ready for a rematch.

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Tony had a headache, a _really_ bad headache. It felt like his head had been split in two – mainly because it had.

"Ah! Easy on the face!" Tony shoved at the medic who was swabbing at his temple.

A voice carried across the room, "You deserve all that you got, Stark, risking the lives of everyone here. Don't you ever think?"

Tony rolled his eyes at Steve, who was sitting with his torso bandaged on a medical-bay, "Oh, please. Don't try to guilt trip me. It was either bring the fight to Earth or here anyway. I just thought Asgard would be a safer playing ground. You know, with all the extra security. Besides, you're barely hurt. You and Jane were both tucked up all cosily under your little make-shift cave during the rock slide."

"Who was that Draugur, Tony? What did you do to make it so mad?" Jane crossed her arms in front of her, leaning on a wall nearby.

"You mean Dan-Dan? Well…" Tony considered his words, "I _may_ have taken something of his that he wasn't too happy about." Tony shrugged.

Thor spoke up, sitting down on top of a marble bench, "What did you take? Draugurs – while often fearful and dark creatures – do not attack without proper reason."

"I might have borrowed the plans to the portal without his permission and altered them to come here instead of the Ghost Zone or wherever." Tony rushed out.

"Ghost Zone? You mean you didn't create the portal?" Jane glared.

Tony touched his stitches tentatively. They still really hurt, "No, I didn't. And now Danny – the so-called Draugur – is kind of mad at me."

"You led an enraged Draugur into Asgard knowing the full consequences of your actions?" Thor slammed a heavy fist against the bench. The medics hurriedly left the room in fear of his wrath.

"I wouldn't worry about Dan-Dan. He's really nice once you get to know him. A bit grouchy though, whenever I visit for some reason..."

"If my ribs weren't still in pain from being thrown by that _thing_…" Steve let the threat linger.

A harried knocking echoed throughout the room before a guard swiftly pulled open the door. Facing Thor, the guard cried out, "My lord, The Draugur! It has escaped!"

Thor stood, pacing backwards and forwards before coming to a stop in front of the guard, "Get me Sif and the Warriors Three. I want the best protection possible for the humans, no matter how little they deserve it." Thor slanted a glare at Tony, who stared innocently back with a smile.

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Loki stood immobile in his cold cell under the city of Asgard. The thick clamps chaining his hands were covered in hoarfrost, his breath clouding his vision. The room was almost impenetrable with its thick walls of ice and snow, even for the god. A single metal door stood on the far wall, frosted shut.

The guards outside had left a short time ago after a muffled call of an invasion. Loki would have taken this chance to escape if it was not for the bonds on his wrists sealing his powers.

Distorted silhouettes ran past his ice cage up towards the main castle – calling out about a demon – leaving Loki once again alone. His eyes continued to watch where the guards had disappeared. Half a year of isolation had left Loki craving for some sort of interaction. Human or Asgardian.

Sighing deeply – his sight becoming white with his breath – Loki let his head drop to his chest, submerging himself into the depths of his mind in regret and revenge. His thoughts were abruptly cut short as a high pitched sound began to emit from the wall with the door. Jolting his head up, the godly prisoner saw a shadow on the other side of the ice, a glowing hand held out in front of it.

The ice began to quickly melt in response, the shadow becoming clearer until all that was left was a growing puddle of water and a large metal doorframe holding itself upright.

Loki stared at his saviour. With blue skin and glowing red eyes, Loki reflexively edged away from the Draugur with the canine grin.

The Draugur raised its hands in a submissive gesture – one of its hands still smoking, "Relax. I am not here to harm you, Loki of Jotunheim. Merely here with a proposition. In exchange, your freedom." Raising a newly glowing fist at the god's clamped hands, the Draugur let off a quick burst of pink energy, shattering Loki's bonds.

Loki lifted his head to stare straight-on at the Draugur, a thin smile playing at his lips, "I'm listening."

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	16. Alliances

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Dashing after the young Asgardian soldier, the Warriors Three following closely behind, Sif huffed in annoyance. They had been told very little about the capabilities of the Draugur, only that it was highly dangerous and was to be eliminated on sight. Sif had felt less than satisfied at the vague answers and the city's lack of control over the Draugur. What if an army was planning to attack? Sif would not let herself be caught off-guard or undermined.

Thor had called for their audience almost a quarter of an hour ago. As she trailed after the sentinel, Sif could hear Volstagg muttering about his interrupted midnight snack, followed by a pained yelp. Looking over her shoulder she found Volstagg glaring at Fandral, hopping on one foot and rolled her eyes at their antics.

Coming to a halt, Sif raised her closed fist – a sign of warning. The Warriors Three and their escort froze, eyes alert as they looked around the hall wildly. Reaching for her waist, Sif expertly pulled out her short-staff from its sheath, gripping the pole tightly in her hands. Cocking her head at a slight noise from above, Sif allowed the staff to extend, revealing its sharpened metal tips.

"What is it?" Hogun asked, looking up at the ceiling, his two companions mimicking him.

Skimming over the decorative cornice running across the edge of the ceiling, Sif replied, "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling."

"I-I-I will go inform Thor Odinson of your upcoming arrival." The guard stuttered, before skipping hurriedly down the corridor and out of sight.

Flicking her long ponytail over her shoulder, Sif called out to her teammates, "Be on the ready. It could attack at any angle."

Sif shuffled backwards to meet the backs of the Warriors Three – their weapons already drawn – all facing outwards. There was no chance now of the Draugur catching them unaware. Sif's eyes travelled the room, searching for any sign of movement in the unnatural silence. Her spear held in front of her, she felt the others do the same.

The ground was beginning to feel increasingly warmer through the soles of her thick boots. Looking down, Sif saw that the ground begin to glow a sickly green.

Eyes widening, she cried, "Get out of the way!"

Somersaulting forward, she came to a stop a few feet away, twisting mid-tumble to face the oncoming attack. A large beam of green energy burst through where she had stood, puncturing the ground with a loud crack of marble and a spray of debris.

Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg had also been lucky in dodging, jumping out of the way shortly after her. Volstagg was still tumbling across the ground.

All of them had come out of the blast relatively unharmed. Fandral however was sporting a slightly charred shoulder. Grasping it tightly, he gave a weak grin of solace to Sif, before rolling further away from where the energy blast had emitted.

Turning back to the hole, she found a cloud of dust had risen where they had stood, obscuring a tall, dark shadow.

Stepping towards Sif, the shadow growled out in a deep voice, "Where's Tony Stark?"

The dust began to thin and Sif peered up into the face of the Draugur they had been hunting, clutching the Tesseract in its large hand. The green eyes were puncturing, staring deeply inside of her. Opening its mouth, the creature roared again, "_Where is Tony Stark?_"

Speechless, Sif scuttled to her feet. This is not what she had expected of a Draugur. It was younger than any she had met previously, and still retained an almost human-like form. Her morality was going to be put to the test in this battle.

A voice called out from across the room, "That is none of you concern, _freak_. Tony Stark is under Asgard's protection. No harm shall come to him while we harbour him here."

Baring its teeth at Fandral, the Draugur snarled, "Which is exactly why I am dragging him back to Earth! So he can take responsibilities for his actions and I can finally go home!"

"You lie, foul creature! No Draugur is so merciful!" Volstagg stood ready for battle, shoulders hunched with his weapon drawn.

With the Draugur's attention directed away from her, Sif studied the creature. Its body was encased in a skin-tight black suit – hardly acceptable armour. Its shoulders were limp, back stooped, almost as if it was weary or tired. Not physically, but emotionally.

She called out in a strong voice, "What has Tony Stark done to you to follow him here?"

The bright green eyes swivelled to face her, "He took something that didn't belong to him. I'm just trying to make things right." The Draugur shrugged.

Hogun spoke up, "What about the Tesseract you're carrying?"

The Draugur glanced down at its hand grasping the Tesseract with a look that could only be described as surprised.

"Oh, right. The glowing cube-thingy. Here, you can have it. It's really cool, but I didn't really mean to take it. I just sort of did it without thinking…" The Draugur grinned lopsidedly, holding the Tesseract out for Sif to take.

Sif eyed the Tesseract intently, allowing herself to be drawn into the calming waves of its energy flittering under its shell, before looking up, "I will strike you a deal, Draugur. Give yourself and the Tesseract up peacefully and we will not harm you."

The Draugur shrugged again, "Fair enough," The Draugur replied, holding its empty hand for her to shake in mortal tradition.

She saw the fearful looks of her teammates as she stepped closer, hand outstretched to meet its halfway, "Alright. Deal."

A solid hand enveloped her own as the Draugur gave Sif's a firm shake of agreement, holding out its other hand containing the Tesseract. Looking into the Draugur's face, she noted the deep shadows under its glowing eyes and how one side of its mouth tilted up a little more than the other. It really was quite cute for a Hel-spawn, with its close resemblance to a human.

A thundering echo was drawing closer to the corridor, rumbling louder with its approach. As the noise grew, she heard the individual sounds of stampeding feet, clad in thick boots similar to hers.

The Draugur whipped his head up in surprise, stepping back out of Sif's reach with a dark frown, clutching the Tesseract tightly to its chest with one hand. The other was beginning to glow a savage green as it gripped it into a fist.

A low whirring sound joined the sounds of charging feet, approaching fast. Sif narrowed her eyes uncertainly, eying the end of the corridor. The noise was getting louder. Pulling away completely from the Draugur and the Tesseract, Sif warily held her arms up for battle, spear pointed at the doorway, in preparation of other possibly less-friendly Draugurs.

The whirring noise grew to the level of a hurricane. Sif's ears rang as it echoed inside her head. She remembered this sound – it was similar to the sound that Thor's—

Mjölnir crashed through the golden doors at the end of the corridor, splintering the wood as it barraged through, headed straight for the Draugur. Flinching back, the Draugur attempted to dodge, but was clipped heavily on the shoulder, spinning him to the other side of the room with a flailing of arms and legs, before landing with a heavy thud.

Looking back at the destroyed doorway, Sif found Thor and his human companions standing there, hundreds of Asgardian soldiers following closely behind, weapons raised at the Draugur.

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"Ugh," Danny groaned, "I don't know how much more I can take of this."

Grasping his tender shoulder, Danny slowly stood up, stumbling slightly. Facing the oncoming army, he shouted, "What is your problem? Seriously, you guys are _insane!_"

"You do not belong here, creature. Go back from whence you came." The blond man in armour stepped forward, his hand outstretched. The sledgehammer that attacked Danny flew back into his hands with another faint whir.

Glancing around the room and finding himself surrounded, Danny felt nervousness creep in. There was no way he could take on all these ghosts. He struggled with the blond one alone. Ignoring the hammer-wielding man, Danny spoke up, "How about a deal? I'll give you back your little nightlight and you hand over the humans so I can take them home? Then everyone's happy, right?"

"The Tesseract does not belong to you," A booming voice called out, an old man strode through the destroyed doorway, an eye patch strapped tightly to his face, "Nor do you have any rights in Asgard. You are politically and physically powerless, Draugur. It was a mistake to come."

"Powerless?" Danny threw a face, "You're not even going to listen to me?"

Cold stares were his only answer. Even the female warrior and her friends he had almost formed an alliance with had sided against him.

"Fine. I'll show you how helpless I am here! And you aren't getting the Tesser-whatever back either!" Danny knew he was being childish, but he was tired and frustrated, which made him – in Sam's words – act like a spoilt brat.

Gripping the cube tighter, he felt a rush of warmth spread over him once more, seeing the faint glow of the cube healing his shoulder.

Feeling revitalised, Danny crouched down, "Wanna fight, old man? Let's go!"

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Thor had seen his father in battle only a handful of times in his near-immortal life. To see the Draugur attempting to taunt him was by far one of the more humorous moments in his life. His humour was downplayed, however, when he saw the faint glow of blue energy escaping the Tesseract, seeping into the wound the Draugur sported from Mjölnir.

Turning his head he looked down to see Jane staring with rapt attention on the Draugur, her eyes wide and her mouth had seemed to unhinge quite some time ago. Steve's face was identical to hers, a look of awe painted across it. Tony was watching the scene with a cool disposition, glancing every so often at a miniature clock strapped to his wrist.

Thor frowned. That man was beyond aggravating. His constant skipping around subjects was leading them to be unprepared for battle. It was almost as if Tony Stark was purposely trying to stop them from getting the upper hand…

Thor felt a strong, insistent tugging from his right hand, before Mjölnir was forcefully wretched from his grasp, flying into his father's.

Odin's voice was gravelly, "You are pushing my limits, young one. I will give you one last chance before I obliterate you out of existence. Concede now and you might survive."

The Draugur stood tall, "No." It simply stated.

"So be it."

Gripping the leather thong at the end of Mjölnir, Odin began to swing the hammer in tight circles, gaining centrifugal force. Turning Mjölnir towards the Draugur, it continued to gain speed. The Hel-creature looked confused, uncertain of what to do.

"Nice party trick," It called out, "Must be a hit at the retirement homes."

Thor thought he heard Tony chuckled before being overcome with a violent coughing attack.

"Sorry," Tony grinned, noticing Thor's stare, "Must be coming down with something."

The air currents were now twisting under the force of Thor's borrowed hammer, being sucked into the developing vortex. The air was becoming thinner as it was dragged into the eye, making it hard to breathe. The Draugur choked in a deep breath, its hair flicking uncontrollably against the wind.

Odin stood strong, continuing to spin Mjölnir with a calm expression.

The Draugur was beginning to dig its feet into the ground, deep cracks appeared as it tried to keep its balance. Its face was contorted in fear and desperation, clinging to the Tesseract as a form of protection. Closing its eyes and turning his head away from the thinning wind, the Hel-spawn held it out, apparently relinquishing its possession of it. Thor's father refused to stop, however, continuing to build up speed, dragging the Draugur ever closer to the hammer.

The Draugur unwillingly moved forward, desperation clear on its face as the winds whipped around him, shoving him towards his death.

"No!" A screech pierced the dark atmosphere, Odin, momentarily distracted by the loud cry that had escaped Jane's mouth, slowed the hammer down, "You can't kill him! He's just a kid!"

Odin opened his mouth to respond, when a burst of pure white-blue energy escaped from the Tesseract, sending shockwaves at the army of Asgardians and humans, knocking them all off their feet. Thor was thrown into a far wall, Jane landing next to him with a groan. Raising his head towards the Draugur, he watched the look of surprise spread across the Draugur's face, staring in shock at the Tesseract's power.

No one spoke as they slowly stood up, energy streams trickled out of the Tesseract, the light quickly diminishing.

"Um… Sorry?" The Draugur whispered loudly in the silence.

Tony's voice was muffled as he shoved a dazed Steve Rogers off himself, "Okay, as much fun as this little shindig was, its way past the kid's bedtime. He has a curfew, you know?" Striding up to the shocked and battle-weary Draugur, Tony easily pulled the Tesseract from its grasp, patting the Draugur on the back comfortingly, "You alright, Danny?"

The Draugur nodded its head rapidly, "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

Tony smiled before turning to the rest of the room, reaching up to fling an arm over the Draugur's shoulder, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, Danny Phantom. World's first ghostly superhero. And don't worry, he's only grumpy when he hasn't had his nap-time."

The Draugur glared at Tony, shoving his arm off its shoulder.

"So, this Danny is… good?" Thor asked from his spot next to Jane, who was rubbing her back with a grimace.

"Yep. Wouldn't hurt a fly without reason." Was the cheerful response.

Odin stood up from around his fallen squadrons, "Well, since he has relinquished the Tesseract and promises no harm against us, I will no longer be the one to fight him."

"Cool." The Draugur – Danny – replied, eyes blank.

"So… can we eat now?" Volstagg asked.

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Danny had been amazed when a pretty woman called Jane Foster had told him about Asgard. Apparently, he had jumped right into another dimension without even noticing. His friends _did_ constantly call him clueless – maybe that's why he was getting a D in geography.

Now however, Danny had been relocated to a small ice-chamber for 'security purposes', and was stuck listening to an Asgardian guard blather on about something called a Bilgesnipe through the thick ice walls – whatever that was.

Danny sighed. Even the company of Tony Stark would have been better than this. Despite his constant urge to punch the arrogant man, Danny knew it was more logical to restrain himself and wait for more neutral ground.

Danny rolled his eyes as the guard began talking about Asgard's plumbing system. It was going to be a long night.

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	17. Accusations

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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"So what do you think about the kid?" Steve slouched in his seat, chin propped up in his palm.

"I know not how to judge this _Danny_ creature. All of the Draugurs I have met in the past have known little in the ways of compassion." Thor crossed his arms, waiting for the medic to finish reviewing Jane Foster in the neighbouring room.

Steve straightened, "What do you mean? Is he different or something?"

"Draugurs are dark creatures with very little semblance of intelligence. Their bodies transform into hideous monsters as they thrive off obsession and fear. This Danny has not shown any of these traits, not even bodily mutation. He works off his emotions – almost as if he was human…" Thor frowned deeper.

"Well what does that mean? The kid's dead. It's only one or the other."

"Not true," A proud and conceited voice boomed out, "There have been some cases of hypothermia where the victims have actually died and come back to life – quite a few of them have described it as almost being half-dead," Tony stopped a few feet away from where Steve sat, "Not to mention all the studies based around Schrödinger's cat theory."

Steve and Thor blinked, "What?"

Tony sighed, "Doesn't matter. Want to go check on Casper?"

The two friends blinked again, eyes dull of knowledge.

"Seriously? Okay, is there a DVD store around here? We really need to have a slumber-party or something."

Horrifying wails pierced the air, followed by a thunderous and angry voice. Cocking his head to the side, Steve asked, "What's going on?"

"I do not know." Thor's voice was tinged with worry.

Standing, Steve followed Thor, exiting the room. Tony trailed behind, silver suitcase in hand. Walking down the many corridors and halls, they found a distraught woman standing next to a livid Odin.

"Father, mother, what has happened?" Thor reached out for the woman, who grasped at him in despair, shoulders shaking.

"It's Loki, Thor." Odin was grave, his apparent angry outburst smouldering into grief and distain.

"Has he escaped somehow?"

Thor's mother shook her head, burying it deeper into the silver armour, "N-no! He's d-d-dead!"

Steve watched as Thor's form slumped over slightly – as if a heavy weight had been shoved on top of him, "Dead? How so?"

"The cell was destroyed. There was blood. Lots of it." Odin's voice quavered faintly.

Steve felt torn for the man. Despite everything Loki had done, he was still their son and they loved him – adopted or not. Steve had seen many families ripped apart by Nazis during the war. The pain never lessened each time he witnessed it. It was always as raw as the first.

"How could this happen? Is he not on constant watch?" Thor's eyes looked hollow as he stared at nothing.

Thor's mother lifted her head from her son's chest, "The guards were pulled away from the cell when the Draugur attacked. They were completing their rounds before returning to the dungeons."

"When the Draugur attacked? Is that who did it perhaps?" Steve wondered aloud.

"There is no doubt that that vile _thing_ was what murdered my brother! Stark, you may have vouched for that creature, but I do not believe it! All Draugurs are the same and deserve to be destroyed!" Thor roared, firmly pushing his mother into her husband's arms before turning on his heel, marching to where Steve guessed the dungeons were.

Tony had frozen in shock before quickly becoming animated again, chasing after the heavy footfalls of his companion, speaking rapidly, "Really, aren't you a bit quick to accuse? I mean, there really isn't any evidence that Danny _had_ been the one to do it! And even if he _did_, I believe he must have had a valid—"

"Shut up, mortal, and stay out of my way!" Ripping Mjölnir from his belt, Thor grasped the handle before shooting forward, using the hammer's powers to fly through the castle.

"Thor! Do not just leap into battle! It is unwise of a king to lay blame on others without evidence!" Odin called, cradling his sobbing wife.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" Steve asked hurriedly.

"Thor must learn the hard way that his actions will always have consequences. I will not stop him."

"Dammit!" Tony cursed, hurriedly throwing his suitcase on the ground. Stomping on it, mechanical features exploded outwards. Bending over and shoving his hands deep inside the machine, Tony lifted the expanded case up to his chest – allowing the suit to encase him entirely, spreading over his form like a second skin.

The painted helmet slid over his face, "Come on," The Ironman suit hummed as it readied its thrusters, "We gotta go after him."

Steve nodded, "Okay. I'm right behind you."

"Do not let my step-son commit such a horrible act out of anger, or he will have to once again face the penalties for his actions from his father's hand!" Odin's wife called out as Steve ran in the direction Tony had left.

"We won't let the situation get that far, ma'am." Steve yelled over his shoulder. Tony had already sped off ahead.

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The guards were whispering again. Danny could hear the murmurs through the thick, opaque ice. They hadn't said a word in Danny's direction since coming back from their rounds. The sentries had swapped shifts, which Danny was almost thankful for. The previous guard had been a little _too_ conversational – meaning Danny had an uncharacteristic urge to strangle the annoying god.

Danny tugged at his chains self-consciously, shivering from his contained ice-powers. He could feel eyes on the other side of the ice following his shadow, still whispering to each other.

Pulling again, Danny attempted to gather energy into his left hand. A sharp zap quickly made him reconsider.

Giving up, Danny leaned back against a cold wall. He hoped the sun hadn't risen yet back on Earth. The last thing Danny wanted was to come back late and make his parents worried or mad – he didn't know how his situation could get any worse.

The thick ice wall Danny was staring at grew a thin spider-web of hairline fractures, hastily spreading across the entire flat surface. Peering closer, Danny's eyes pinched shut as he ducked his head instinctively. Ice shattered in a rain of diamonds, piercing through Danny's suit, embedding shards deep into his skin. Yelping in pain, Danny slumped onto the wall – tentatively brushing at his bleeding skin with his clamped hands. Calls of "My Lord!" and "Your Highness!" were tuned out as he hissed, yanking out a short jagged splinter from his neck. Danny didn't hear the cries of shock either as a heavy fist slammed into his face – snapping his head to the right violently.

Wincing, Danny cricked his neck, only to get another fist into his face. Thrown off-balance, Danny landed on the frozen floor and shook his head, groaning as he tried to clear it.

Hearing the roar of his attacker and the whistling of pressured air, Danny quickly rolled to the side. His assaulter slammed their fist into the ground where Danny had laid only moments before. Pushing himself to his feet, Danny kicked out his foot – hitting whoever it was in the back of the knee.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw the hulking form of Thor, hand entrenched into the ice and tugging fiercely to pull it out while glaring at Danny with a deep burning hatred, pinning Danny to the spot.

Danny's eyes flicked down to his clamped and powerless hands. Oh boy, he was in trouble.

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Steve gulped in a large breath as he sprinted after Tony. Having long lost sight of the metal suit, Steve had since started wandering the halls trying to gain an insight to Stark's location.

Gazing out at night-sky to find his bearings, Steve watched as the sun began to rise, casting a faint grey-blue glow across the castle. Jogging to a stop, the super soldier bent over at the waist, his lungs aching from lack of oxygen. He had no idea where Tony had gone, and hadn't had enough time to scope out the building properly. For what was originally a portal test-run had now blown far out of proportion. Demons, demi-gods, portals able to cross to other universes, It was all too much for the man out of time.

Running his hands over his face tiredly, Steve peeked through calloused fingers to stare outside. He could see the rainbow bridge from his vantage in the distance, pulsing gently in the dim sunlight.

Looking back out to the horizon, Steve felt a niggling sensation in the back of his mind, urging him to focus. Peering closer at the bridge, the veteran noticed a dark, humanoid figure lying partway down its long stretch. It wasn't moving.

Steve battled with his conscience. Tony should be able to handle Thor by himself, right?

Hesitating once more, Steve headed for the bridge.

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Danny felt the ice crack as his back collided with it. Grasping the front of his suit, Thor lifted a hand towards his face. Reflexively kicking a leg out, the halfa caught the god in the shin, forcing Thor to release him and tumble to the ground in surprise.

Stumbling, Danny hunched over defensively, trying to regain his balance. He couldn't do much damage with his powers sealed and hands tied, there wasn't much hope for him against a guy who could control the weather at will.

Thor launched himself at Danny, who tumble-rolled to the side, near the mouth of the ice-hole. Edging backwards, he looked over his shoulder to find the guards stationed at his cell had long since fled, slamming the doors behind them, leaving Danny with no way out.

Danny huffed, "W-worst army ever."

Turning to Thor, the halfa tried negotiating through his frozen teeth, "L-look, dude. J-just tell me what's wrong because, s-s-seriously, I have no idea. Then maybe we can g-get this whole mess cleaned up and you can go back to doing, er… whatever g-god's with anger m-m-management issues do."

"You manipulating demon! First you murder my brother and then try to claim your innocence? Have you been controlling Stark this whole time? Trying to gain our trust so it would be easier for you to attack?" Raising his hammer, Thor threw it at Danny's head, who ducked in time to feel the heavy stone brush against the tips of his hair as it flew over.

"If I c-could do that to Tony I would have done it a long time ago – believe me, I've tried! And b-besides, I've never k-k-killed anyone in my entire life – I-I'm like freaking B-batman or something! It's all in the rule-book!" Danny's teeth chattered.

Thor gave him a blank stare.

Rolling his eyes, the halfa explicated, "He's a c-comic book character. Really cool. F-fights crime with a utility belt and – you know what? F-f-forget it."

Thor held his hand out for his hammer, where Danny reactively dodged once again, stumbling to the ground onto his knees.

Thor seemed confused as his hand was left empty – his hammer hadn't returned to him.

Spotting a small sharp piece of ice to his left, Danny scooped it up, clutching it to his person.

Thor laughed menacingly, "You think that a little thing will hurt me? Even without Mjölnir I surpass you in raw strength. When I am finished with you, Draugur, you will wish that this 'Bat-Belt-Man' was here to save _you_."

"Oh, I'm not p-planning to hurt you w-with this, I plan to d-d-do that myself!"

Jamming the ice toothpick in between the cuff and his wrist, Danny wiggled it in deeper between the opening, catching his glove a few times before smoothly running it through. Circulation returned to his hands as he felt his powers spread throughout him.

Danny grinned, letting the large shard be consumed by his ice-powers. Hoar-frost covered the cuffs, solidifying and shattering them as Danny yanked his hands free, standing up to face his opponent head-on.

"Now, I wonder if gods can get frostbite?"

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Tony approached the dungeon chambers silently, hovering above the ground with his thrusters on minimum.

Wishing he was able to communicate with JARVIS, Tony manually switched his visual settings to thermal-vision.

Blue covered his screen. Scanning past the immobile objects, Tony found a humanoid red and yellow figure being thrown back into what he assumed from the dark blue was a wall. Tony had found Danny, but where was Thor?

Searching quickly over the room again, Tony found no heat signatures other than the faint trails where Danny had collided with objects.

The human-shape was picked up by an unseen force, its head snapped back as it was once again violently flung by an unseen force. Squinting closely, Tony noticed one of the larger cold objects moving – heading towards what was assumedly Danny.

Hurriedly switching off his thermal-vision, Tony barged through the doors, a loud whine emitting from his glowing palm in offence, only to stop just as suddenly.

Thor, the now identified hot-spot, had been thrown into the far wall – all the fight in him lost as he lay propped slightly upright by loose chunks of stone and ice, his hammer nowhere in sight. Danny stood in the center of the room, hand still clenched into a fist covered in ice crystals.

"Well, I've heard of a cold demeanour but this is _impressive_. The ability to lower your body temperature to form and manipulate ice at will? That is admittedly very cool."

Danny's glare almost left Tony feeling unnerved, "Yeah, very _cool_," He growled low, "Just as cool as you stealing my parent's inventions."

Tony rolled his eyes, flicking up his metal visor, "I was going to give them credit afterwards_._ But come on, your parents aren't exactly on the cover of the Biophysical Journal, are they? I needed _something_ to work with. My credibility would have capsized if anyone knew I was working in cohesion with a pair of neurotic loser ghost-hunters, you know?"

"Did you just call my parents neurotic losers?" Danny gritted out, right palm flaring a vivid green as he stepped towards Tony.

Tony coughed to hide his growing worry, "I was speaking from the public's perspective. _I _personally think they're great people – albeit a little weird sometimes—"

"Weird?" Danny raised an eyebrow, his left hand glowing ferociously to match the other.

"Okay, seriously? You're not going to listen to anything I say are you?" Tony lowered his helmet and raised his hands to the oncoming half-ghost.

Danny chuckled darkly, "When hell freezes over."

"Well, technically, you are capable of doing that." Tony pointed out as Danny charged.

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Hefting the injured gate-keeper, Heimdall, higher, Steve half-dragged the Asgardian closer where he claimed the Draugur was being kept.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Draugur here?" Steve asked.

Heimdall nodded weakly, "Yes. Only one was allowed access to Asgard. The other I did not see but I fear catastrophic consequences if the unwelcomed one succeeds. Sadly, I was unable to stop the fates."

"Well, sir, sometimes no matter how hard we try, fate just tries a little harder."

"Hey!" A feminine voice called out behind them, bouncing off the walls, "Steve, right?" Jane Foster hurried up the corridor – hands grasping lightly at her injured torso – to match the pace of the blond American's.

"Yes, ma'am." Steve answered shortly, continuing in the direction of the dungeons.

Jane Foster let a relieved smile slide across her face before asking, worry tinging her tone, "You haven't seen Thor at all have you? His parents told me what happened, we can't let him do it!"

"Do not worry Miss Foster, we have enough proof that the Draugur—"

"Danny. His name is Danny." Jane Foster interjected.

"That _Danny_ is innocent," Steve finished, hauling the gate-keeper higher on his shoulder, who grunted softly in response, "But we must hurry. Stark is already there but we don't know how much of a defence he will be against Thor by himself."

"Well then let's go!" Ducking under and lifting Heimdall's other arm, Jane helped drag the semi-conscious body towards the dungeons.

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"Really, Danny! Is this necessary?" Tony called down, dodging another green energy ball from his vantage on the ceiling.

The half-ghost ignored him, sending a blast of ice at the red and silver armour. The ice clipped the suit's foot, where it crawled halfway up Tony's calf. The thrusters shorted out, leaving the suit imbalanced as the unnatural ice gripped and crawled into the armour's skeletal frame.

"Uh-oh." Danny heard Tony grunt as he faltered in the air, pin-wheeling in his descent.

Landing roughly, Danny left Tony no time to recover from the fall as he grasped the grooves in the chest-plate, lifting Tony into the air with his towering stature.

"Now," Danny began, "You will give my parents full credit for your little so-called original invention or I tell your girlfriend and the press what you've been up to."

The helmet's face peeled back with a metallic clank, "You know about Pepper?"

"I googled her." Danny's lips were pulled up into a smirk, "I might be a C-student but I'm not so stupid that I'd get into a fight without _some_ blackmail. A little tip I learnt from you, actually." Danny replied slyly.

"Huh, funny. Well here's something else your uncle Tony's gonna teach you. Rule number two; always stay focused."

"Wha—" Danny felt a heavy weight collide with his ribcage. Releasing Tony, Danny collapsed onto the debris-ridden ground, pinned down by whatever had run into him, "Oof!"

Shuffling a hand between whatever was on top of him, Danny pushed up with all his might, rolling to the side swiftly, Danny found himself once again looking into the angry eyes of the Asgardian god.

Pushing himself out of arms reach, Danny held his palms out in front of him, powering up another energy ball—

"Stop!" Jane Foster, the pretty physicist that had so kindly talked to Danny, stood at the entrance of the dungeon, "Thor! I swear to whatever god is in this damn castle, if you touch even a single hair on that innocent boy's head, I will—" Danny blushed deeply at the explicit language that poured from the pretty scientist's mouth to describe the multiple forms of torture she was seemingly willing to use on the god, "—Got it?" Jane crossed her arms in front of her chest, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

Thor nodded silently.

Danny let the glowing energy dissipate as Jane Foster made her way down the staircase, helping support an injured Asgardian. Steve Rogers, whom Danny recognised from his last fight with him, stood on the god's other side, carrying the brunt of the weight as they descended the ruined staircase.

"Heimdall! Jane!" Thor cried out, ignoring Danny and rushing towards the trio.

Danny halted in curiosity, watching the reunion with suspicion, keeping an eye on the suddenly passive Tony Stark.

"What happened? Are any of you hurt?" Thor cupped Jane's face carefully, ostensibly twisting it to look for any visible injuries.

Jane slapped his hands away, "I'm fine. Heimdall is the one that's hurt! He says he's seen something to prove Danny's innocence!"

Danny perked up at the sound of his name, his stance becoming less rigid, "Why should I have to prove my innocence if I already know I am?"

"Be quiet, death-bringer!" Thor hissed, helping lower Heimdall onto the stairs. Jane hit him on the shoulder.

Heimdall groaned low in pain, "He was an unexpected. I had not foreseen him earlier due to his lack of humanity. It is difficult to see those of Helheim, as our worlds are so separated," Heimdall wheezed, his breaths sounded painful, "It was easy to see this Draugur – he is more human than the other. He has not cast off his mortality so quickly."

"What does that mean?" Steve asked, crouching to eye-level with the gate-keeper.

Heimdall ignored Steve, "I faced the unexpected and lost in battle. He has escaped with Loki to the mortal plane – I do not know their plan. I was lucky to have been spared."

"Loki is alive?" A look of wonder passed over Thor's face before becoming stony, bellowing, "Guards! We are in need of medical assistance!" Turning to Danny, Thor sneered, holding out his hand to his now-receptive hammer, heading up the stairs past the swarming medics beckoned at his call. Thor waved his hand carelessly for Danny to follow.

Danny narrowed his eyes before reluctantly trailing behind.

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"Hey, aren't you worried about Danny finding some hot Mexican babe while he's, you know, 'working'?" Tucker asked conversationally with a mouthful of breakfast-bacon, his cell phone pressed between his shoulder and ear.

A growl and dial tone was all he heard.

"Hello? Sam? Where'd you go?"

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The portal was still swirling eerily as the team approached it. A shiver ran down Steve's spine at the sight. Danny, leading the march towards the floating green abyss, stopped at its mouth.

"Are you sure this will take us back to Earth? Because I'd rather not be trapped in the Ghost Zone with no way out."

Tony leant forward and poked Danny in the spine with a metallic finger, "We don't. Which is why you're going first, ghost-boy." He jauntily replied.

The Draugur glared in response, before hesitantly holding a gloved hand out, stepping closer. His hand slid through the universal veil, meeting with no resistance. Stepping in, Danny's body was embraced by the green, absorbing him whole until he was no longer visible.

"Who's next?" Tony clapped his hands together with a sharp clack of metal.

Jane Foster wasted no time, stepping through the portal without any signs of disinclination. Thor and Tony swiftly following.

Looking back at the once-chaotic scenery, glowing majestically in the pre-dawn light, Steve stepped back through the portal.

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	18. Captives

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Stepping through the portal, the last thing Danny expected was to be confronted with a big shiny gun – let alone twelve of them.

"Whoa!" Danny raised his hands reflexively.

Peering past the ends of the large, threatening weapons, Danny found a small army of black-clad soldiers hunting through the remains of the now-destroyed lab. Catching the eyes of a bewildered man with thinning blonde hair and a stressed-out Darcy, Danny felt a strange amount of pity for the pair as they were interrogated by more soldiers dressed in black.

The lab had been – for the most part – trashed. Computers screening the progress waves of the portal had been destroyed, glass windows and whiteboards with penned-out formulas shattered, and Danny saw more than one generator spark furiously.

A shorter presence passed through the portal, halting next to Danny. Jane Foster stood with wide eyes at her demolished laboratory and the armed gunmen, before a deep growl erupted from the back of her throat.

"What the hell do you people think you're doing?" Batting a hand at one of the gun, she screeched, "Don't you dare stick that thing in my face!"

Two more figures emerged from the portal. Tony and Thor stepped through with twin expressions of surprise. Steve Rogers quickly following with his own look of disbelief.

Danny began to feel claustrophobic as his eyes shifted throughout the room. There were too many people and not enough space to move. He couldn't risk turning intangible and escaping – there was the possibility that the others could get injured if he did.

"Don't worry, Miss Foster, everything is under control." A tall, dark-skinned man wearing an eye-patch stepped through the men, motioning for them to lower their weapons.

"Who the heck are you? And how can _any_ of this be under control? My lab is destroyed! What if another generator blew, huh? We might have—" Jane was cut off by the balding blond man Danny had spied earlier.

"Jane! I'm so glad you're alright. The staff, they turned on us! They were not who they seemed!" The old blonde man stumbled forward – ignoring the men previously questioning him – and hurried over to grab Jane's shoulders, shaking them slightly.

"Erik! Finally someone with a little common sense! What happened?"

The man – Erik – seemed to lose all his strength. Looking at Jane with weary eyes, he explained, "The hire staff. They… they weren't who we thought they were. Shortly after you and the others went through and Darcy had left to gather provisions to celebrate, they took over. I was forced into one of the supply closets. After Darcy came back… she was forced in too."

"Who were they? What did they want?" Steve spoke up.

Erik shook his head, "I don't know, it was hard to hear. I think they were waiting for someone. It had something to do with the portal, at least."

Jane rounded on Tony, and Danny suddenly felt very happy to have never been on her bad side, "This is _your_ fault! I knew I should have asked where you got those guys! They were completely useless – and apparently back-stabbers!"

Tony blinked, "What are you talking about? You employed them, remember?"

"I never even planned to have an assistant at all, let alone a whole team!" Jane clenched her fists at her sides.

"But they were under contract, under _your_ name." Tony retorted.

"I didn't hire them! I thought you did!"

"That is because neither of you employed them," the man with the eye-patch said coldly, "DALV corporations has been linked to the employees. They're a falsified research and development facility used for more 'under-the-table' transactions. They obviously found out about your little secret-project and decided they wanted a piece of the action, too."

"DALV?" Danny exclaimed in surprise – the guns were reflexively aimed back at his head – "What would they want with the portal? They already have their own," Danny paused, "Does it have something to do with that Loki guy?"

"We are aware that Loki is back on Earth, along with another unknown creature, and we are now taking precautions for the impending violence." Eye-patch stated.

"You know of these DALV creatures? More of your _friends_?" Thor sneered, placing a large hand on Jane's shoulder, who shrugged it off with a frown.

Danny snorted, "Hardly. I way too much history with their vampire boss to ever be buddy-buddies."

"You can be friends with me!" Darcy called out. Danny quirked a questioning eyebrow up.

"And what are you? Another Asgardian?" Eye-patch looked to the god, "Training them for war a bit young, aren't you, Thor? Although he does fit the stature."

"Nah," Tony cut in, "He's still potty-training."

Danny slugged him in the arm.

"He is not one of my kind," Thor's expression darkened, before spitting out, "He is a Draugur."

Danny looked down at Thor, "Okay, seriously, why do you keep calling me that? I have no idea what it means!"

"A Draugur? Very well," Eye-patch nodded at the armed guards, "Swap firearms and take him in."

New shiny guns were aimed at him – similar to the ghost-hunting equipment his parents produced, only scarier-looking.

"Wait, what?" Danny cried, "What did I do?"

Steve's face filled with anger, stepping in front of the halfa, "You can't just take him without a reason! He's just a kid!"

"On the contrary, Captain, under chapter six, paragraph forty-nine, SHIELD operatives are legally capable of placing an unidentified creature or alien under arrest until proven to not be a threat to society. Whatever this creature is, he is a potential threat and must be dealt with for the sake of our planet."

Danny blinked, "Wow, you're like the Guys in White – only more civilised."

Big shiny silver guns began to whine in response.

Danny raised his hands back up in the air in defeat, "I take that back."

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Steve crossed his arms in a huff, leaning against the main platform's railing as he looked out the large cock-pit's window in the Helicarrier. SHIELD jargon swept over him in an annoying hum of noise as Steve supressed the urge to hit something. The Draugur, Danny, had been detained in a containment cell farther in the ship, similar to the one designed for Bruce Banner six months earlier.

Steve felt bad for the kid. It was obvious now that Danny had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and was suffering the consequences. He blamed Tony.

The other Avengers – now including Thor – were being rounded up. Clint Barton from a mission in Saudi Arabia and Bruce had been hinted to have been seen in Botiz, Romania. Natasha Romanoff, on the other hand, had had a much shorter trip after facing suspension for the past few weeks and was already on board. Steve didn't know what the suspension was for, but whatever she had done, it must have been bad.

"We're meeting in the conference room in half an hour," a deep voice announced behind him, "Barton and Dr Banner should have arrived by then."

Steve glanced over his shoulder at Nick Fury, "What's going to happen to Danny?"

"Nothing at the moment," Fury tapped lightly at one of the backless monitors splayed around him, "If the creature proves to be a threat, then it will be terminated. If it isn't, negotiations come into play."

"So you're either going to kill him or use him as blackmail." Steve gritted out.

Fury gave him a blank stare with his one eye, "If it does not prove himself to be of any worth to us, yes. This is politics, Captain, not play-time. SHIELD does not take any chances against protecting its world and neither should you."

The veteran glared, "Don't lecture me about war, Fury." Turning on his heel, Steve stalked off without a backwards glance.

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Danny scowled from his seat on the floor in the round glass case. He felt like a caged animal expected to balance a brightly-coloured ball on his nose, like a sea-lion or something.

The dark room was difficult to see out into under the harsh glare of fluorescent lighting in his circular cell, but Danny could still see the blinking red light of the security camera as it watched him intently.

Standing, Danny once again made his way over to the clear wall, fingertips hovering over the cool glass. One minor slip and the glass would zap him with a current of over thirteen thousand volts, the suited men had informed him. Danny, however, was sick of sitting in time-out and allowed intangibility wash over him, his body falling to room temperature as he began to lose his corporal form.

Pressing his fingertips against the smooth surface, Danny grinned, readying himself to push through. Those Dudes in Black may have been able to procure some actual ghost-hunting equipment, but they obviously knew very little about ghosts themselves if they didn't think about anti-ghost shields.

Chuckling, Danny allowed his hands to slide through, when a burning white-green overcame him. Stabbing energy ran up his arms to spread throughout his body. Shrieking in pain, Danny ripped his hands out of the glass and collapsed on the ground, breathing hard. Looking down to see his hands smouldering and charred, Danny cradled the appendages against his body, hissing in pain. These guys were playing rough.

"If you're curious about where we got our equipment, the GiW were having a garage sale." A strong feminine voice called out. Danny could practically hear the smirk.

Squinting past the reflection of the glass, Danny shuffled as close as he dared to the electrified glass. A brown-haired woman in a tight black uniform stood next to the control panel on a connecting platform, eyeing him curiously.

Danny blew on his hands lightly, "Should have known those bone-heads were involved – or at least, you guys use the same dry-cleaners. You never get your own hands dirty, do you?" The ghost-boy sneered, cautiously peeling off his liquefying gloves and throwing them at the SHIELD agent's head. Violent light spattered across the glass again as the gloves melted into nothing.

Danny smiled, wiggling his gloveless fingers at her. The agent frowned.

"This cell has been specifically altered for your kind. Any form of ectoplasmic energy comes in contact, a signal will be sent through to the control panel," The woman waved a hand at the small, collective row of buttons, lights and switches, "And its defence system will automatically initiate. If you so much as leave a hand-print on that glass, not only will you be burnt to a crisp, but you will be free-falling over twenty thousand feet down to the sea."

"Joy." Danny droned, looking away in false disinterest so the woman couldn't see his growing anxiety.

The agent's scowl deepened. Stepping as close as the metal platform would allow her, she bent down to his eye-level where he sat, "Commander Fury will be here in a few hours to talk to you. Behave."

Standing up and turning to leave, Danny quickly made his arm intangible, shutting his eyes at the expected bright light and shoving his hand through to grab at the momentarily blinded agent. Ignoring the body-wracking pain running through him, Danny grasped at her hip before dragging his arm back through the glass, rolling away and curling in on himself. Clutching at his burnt hand, he heard the woman skipping away in fright as a gun clicked. Danny didn't move, waiting with baited breath for several long seconds before the gun clicked again – the safety locked back on – and footsteps dashed through the automatic doors, sliding shut with a hiss.

Grunting slightly as the pain lessened to a dull thrumming, Danny mentally cheered at sight of the thin, relatively unharmed, laminated card clutched in his reddened and sore hand. Agent Maria Hill had just unknowingly given Danny a huge opportunity, and who was he not to take advantage of it?

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Finally! Another chapter down! It was surprisingly hard to write that little bit with Steve and Fury. I had to make him not seem too emotionally connected to Danny, but still sympathetic.

Anyway, with university being a major thorn in my side, it might be a little while until you get the next chapter - but after that, it should be all smooth sailing and more regular updates. Yay!

Enjoy, review, I love you all!


	19. Debriefings

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Bruce Banner was tired – emotionally and physically. The aircraft used to transport him from Romania had felt too crowded for the introverted scientist, despite not being in his _other_ form.

Placing the oxygen-mask over his face, Bruce waited with growing impatience for the plane's door to open. Unsealing with a hiss, the door pulled itself away, allowing Bruce room to manoeuvre out onto the asphalt-topped expanse of the Helicarrier. Bruce felt his eyes widen slightly in wonder as he was once again confronted with the extraordinary sight. Swivelling his head around in an effort to take in as much of his surroundings, Bruce quickly became distracted – taking hesitant yet intrigued steps out towards the other aircrafts.

"This way, Mr Banner." A steely voice called out from behind him.

Jumping slightly at the sound of the other man's voice, Bruce spun around and nodded sharply in response, wringing his hands out of habit as they headed towards the underground entrance. Bruce had had no incidents since the run-in with the kid in Amity Park a few weeks ago, but he still felt nervous about being contained in the large metal airship flying thousands of feet above ground. Even more nervous about how the _big guy_ was going to react.

Stepping inside the small alcove leading towards the central-controls room, Bruce held his breath and prayed for luck to be in his side.

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Natasha held her head high as she entered the debriefing room, her face set in a permanent scowl as she yanked one of the vacant chairs out from the black table and proudly seated herself – primly ignoring her co-worker, Clint Barton, to instead coldly stare at the wall directly ahead.

"Tashie! Nice to see you've joined the party!" Tony flopped into the seat next to her, a wide and condescending grin slowly peeled across his face, "I haven't seen you since our little ghost-town tour!"

Natasha clucked her tongue, continuing to look at the far wall, "I don't know what you're talking about." She hissed.

Tony smirked, "Oh, you know, when you had to _beg_ me to come help you because you were so afraid of a sixteen year old and his spandex-wearing parents."

Natasha's eyes swivelled to glare at Tony in disgust and anger, "I wasn't afraid _of_ the boy, but _for_ him. Besides, he's dead, so there's nothing to worry about." she said coldly.

It was a self-defence mechanism of Natasha's – remove the guilt by separating oneself from the problem. Take yourself out of the situation and you felt no remorse. It may have been her fault that the boy had been killed by an angered and out-of-control Bruce, but she wasn't going to let it affect her so easily.

Tony laughed long and hard at Natasha, who was quickly becoming miffed at the billionaire's attitude. Other members of the Avengers initiation had slowly begun to trickle into the room – casting odd looks at Tony, who only laughed harder.

"Dead?" Tony choked out, "Even if he was completely, I wouldn't be any less scared of him! In fact, I'd probably be more!"

"What are you barking on about now, Stark?" Clint spoke up, curiosity edging his icy tone.

"Ignore him," Steve intercepted as he lowered himself into a seat away from Tony – Jane and Thor quickly following suit, "He's annoying everyone on purpose. Just forget he's there – he's speaking in riddles anyway."

Tony shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm bored. Besides, I already told you, you just chose to not believe me."

"When?" Steve asked, before his attention was diverted by a ragged and tired man shuffling his way into the room.

Bruce Banner half-heartedly waved at the small group, glancing at Tony who gave him a sharp nod, and sat in the chair next to him, slumping down with a worn and worried expression.

"Nice to see the gang back together, I suppose," Bruce rested his chin on his palm, "I haven't met you though." He murmured, looking a Jane questionably.

"She's with me." Thor boasted proudly.

Jane rolled her eyes, "I'm Jane Foster." She replied calmly, "Please to meet you, Mr Banner, I've heard much about your work with Gamma radiation."

"If I knew it was bring-your-girlfriend-to-work day, I would have brought Pepper. At least _she_ appreciates me." Tony drawled out.

Natasha grunted, "Oh just shut up for once, Stark."

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Danny paced back and forth across the length of the containment chamber, constantly slanting sharp looks at the flickering red dot emanating from the camera in the far corner of the room.

Danny sighed heavily, ice particles hovered in front of him, blurring his view. He had no idea where he was or how long he had been here. The large room was cold and dark and difficult to look out into under the glaring lights. He had only seen the dot by chance as it winked furiously at him during his aggitated pacing.

Danny supposed he could simply use his ghostly wail to break out of the cell, but that attracted too much attention to himself and left him weakened and vulnerable. It was better to stay as undercover – find out as much information about these people as possible. Danny didn't have an ounce of trust for the suits, despite their claims that they were a government-funded law enforcement agency – Tony's expression back at the lab had spoken volumes to Danny, and had left him feeling unbalanced and slightly fearful. These people were not to be played with if they had Tony Stark on edge.

Looking down at the card half-tucked up the end of his exposed sleeve, Danny re-read the information splayed across it for the sixth time.

Maria Hill had definitely come in handy. Her card told Danny her career position, her agency's name, her age, even her blood-type. But most importantly, it told him that she had almost full clearance to the agency… Well, she would have, if she still had her swipe-card.

Sharply looking back up at the camera, Danny tucked the card further up his sleeve out of sight, walking to the glass-wall to peek out into the darkness at the blinking red dot to see if it had suddenly and unceremoniously died. It hadn't.

Danny released a cold breath, fern frost spreading rapidly across the glass, obscuring his view as it wound its way across in intricate patterns. The ice did not melt on impact against the ghost shield.

Tentatively raising a hand, Danny pressed exposed fingertips on the thin ice, pressing firmer as no electric currents came to zap him into oblivion.

"Huh, would you look at that?" Danny smirked darkly, taking in a deep breath.

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"It appears, gentleman and ladies, that we have a bigger situation at hand then we had hoped," Nick Fury began as he stepped into the room, "Already, we have lost all signs of the whereabouts of Loki and his companion."

"Lost? So what do we do? Track the Tesseract's Gamma waves down again or wait until he pops up for his grand entrance?" Bruce asked tiredly.

"The Tesseract is securely in its vault in Asgard. Neither Loki nor the other being had the opportunity to steal it. The Draugur had had it in its possession when Loki was assumed dead." Thor gritted out.

Clint felt confused. He did not like being out of the loop, "What's a Draugur?"

"It's a magical zombie." Tony lounged in his chair, waving a hand carelessly.

"A what?" Natasha's eyes widened comically.

Tony's lips twitched up, "Kidding! It's just a boring old ghost that has the ability to kill you at any time with its magical zombie powers."

Clint's brow furrowed, "That isn't relieving at all."

Natasha nodded in agreement.

"If you would like to focus on the problem at hand, gentlemen, we have to figure out what exactly Loki is planning if he's not using the Tesseract." Fury's single eye glinted dangerously.

Silence spread throughout the room.

Steve raised his head, "What about Danny? Can we use him? He knew about those DALV people – he might know more."

Natasha piqued an eyebrow up, "Who's Danny?"

"A magical zombie ghost whom we've all managed to thoroughly irritate and has most likely just escaped from his containment cell on board." Tony quipped.

"What?" Fury and Thor roared.

Tony pulled himself up out of his seat, ambling towards the row of camera visuals, and enlarged a single screen. The containment cell that had once held both Thor and Loki was encased in frost, prohibiting anyone to look into the cell, which was most likely empty.

"When did this happen?" A vein became increasingly prominent in Fury's temple as he hissed at Tony.

Tony casually rocked on his heels, "About ten minutes ago."

Tension was thick in the room.

Steve whispered confoundedly "We're doomed."

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Okay, it will probably be a while before I get the chance to update this. I really don't have a lot of time, but I felt bad for leaving you guys hanging.

It is short, but it's still something at least.

I got a comment asking me about the way I spell certain things because they weren't the American spelling, for which I apologise - I can't help it. I've had twenty years of Australian grammar and literacy shoved into me. I can't just turn that off, it's an unconscious thing. I remember getting in trouble at primary school when I wrote words with American spelling and lost points on my grade - so it has permanently put me off spelling 'incorrectly'. I am sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable, but I truly don't notice when I do it, nor will I do anything to change it. Inconsistancy is a headache for everyone.

I will hopefully all see you soon (the sooner the better) and don't forget to review! It might just make me neglect my work to write instead!


	20. Grudges

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Sliding through the heavy metal door, Danny flinched at the sudden brightness of the room. The chamber where he had been kept prisoner had been so dark that it made it difficult to blink away the stars in his eyes.

Danny shook his head lightly to stare at the grey-slate wall in front of him. Twisting his head, he found himself in a narrow winding corridor. No other doors in sight. Shrugging, Danny twisted on his heel and wandered down seemingly endless path, with no sense of direction or idea of where he was going.

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Thor's long pace made it difficult for Jane to match. Her shorter legs scurried across the tiled ground as she struggled to keep herself upright. She was beginning to get tired – she was a scientist, for goodness' sake! Physical exertion was not her forte.

Glancing up quickly into her lover's face, Jane took note of the deep frown marring his face – his eyes only focused on what was in front of him. Jane had little doubt that Thor hadn't even noticed her beside him since 'Danny' was announced missing.

Panting, Jane found herself rapidly falling behind as Steve, Fury and his two lackeys overtook her to speed off down the corridor with Thor. Fury was rapidly speaking into an earpiece as he ran, calling for backup.

Slowing to a stop, Jane rested her hands on her knees as she gulped down air for her burning lungs. Leaning against a wall, she forced herself to stay upright. Jane had no idea how Natasha Romanoff did it, the Helicarrier was huge and the cell was of the far side – away from the main control room in case of an escape like this.

Feeling her heart begin to beat at a much more comfortable pace, Jane stayed stationed on the wall. The last thing she wanted was to get lost in the giant aircraft. It was better to wait for the others.

Quiet murmurings echoed though the corridor, bouncing off the walls in muffled tones. Tilting her head, Jane recognised the voices to be Tony Stark's and Doctor Banner's, and snuck her way across the tiles towards them. Reaching a bend in the corridor, she strained her ears to catch glimpses of the conversation, keeping out of sight.

The pair must have been walking at a languid pace, seeming in no rush to fight or detain the Draugur – or Danny, whatever its name was.

Tony's voice cut through her musings, "Hey, you call it child abuse, I call it learning life's expectancies!" His voice was oddly cheery for such a dire moment.

"It doesn't matter, Stark. He's still a kid. You can't keep treating him like one of your employees. It's not like he wanted this to happen." Doctor Banner's voice was grave in response.

Tony sighed dramatically, "Alright, alright. I'll lay off Dan-Dan then. Happy?"

Dan-Dan? Who in the world was Dan-Dan? Jane frowned confusedly.

"No, not quite," Doctor Banner said coldly, "Stop hinting at who he is. It's not a game, it's his privacy. Not everyone wants to announce their secret identity to the world. Don't mess up his life just because you think it's funny."

Tony didn't respond.

Jane was quickly becoming more and more confused. Were they talking about the Draugur, Danny? Or someone else? But why would a ghost-zombie-demon-thing need a secret identity? It was already dead, wasn't it?

Loud footsteps were quickly approaching Jane's hiding spot. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Jane spoke up, attempting to keep her voice as even as she casually leaned against the wall, "Tony? Doctor Banner? Are you there?"

The footsteps halted. A heavy silence flooded the narrow hallway, until Tony spoke up, a fake cheer in his voice, "Jane!" He cried, as the two men rounded the corner, "What are you doing dawdling? I would have thought you'd be up there with you living blond Ken-doll!"

Jane coughed uncomfortably, "They ran off ahead," She said, before sliding them a glance, "What about you two? Why aren't you with them?" Her eyes swivelled to Doctor Banner.

Said doctor stiffened – his back ram-rod straight and eyes alert and focused, yet he stayed silent.

Tony shrugged, "Double-checking the recordings, of course. We wanted to see if we could catch any footage of Danny escaping. See what _ghoulish_ things he could be up to."

Jane saw Doctor Banner grimace slightly. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

A loud clap interrupted her thoughts. Tony's false smile was creasing his face, "Why don't you head back to the meeting room and wait for us there, Jane? We won't be long! Tata, _mon cher_!" Tony tugged Doctor Banner by the wrist and began to briskly walk down the corridor away from Jane.

"Wait!" She called out, scowling as they quickly rounded another corner. There was no point trying to catch up to them – they could outrun her by a mile. Pushing herself off the wall, Jane reluctantly made her way back to the hub of the Helicarrier, contemplating as she walked. Maybe _she_ should take a look at those tapes.

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Sliding through another wall, Danny held his breath, still cloaked in invisibility with his eyes clenched shut as another group of agitated SHIELD agents bustled past, screaming orders of incarcerating the Draugur.

Danny was seriously going to punch Tony in the face the next time he saw him.

Hearing the agents make their way down the corridor on the other side of the wall, Danny apprehensively turned around, peeking his eyes open, and sighed in relief. He was in a changing room. Black steel lockers stood in neat rows along with low benches placed in each aisle. There wasn't a person in sight.

Making a quick scan of the room, Danny concluded that it was empty and became visible. Planting his feet on the ground, he made his way down the closest aisle – curiously looking at the lockers. Giving in to his fascination, Danny stuffed his head into a locker, withdrawing it just as quickly, gagging on the air. Even Dash Baxter's locker smelt better. Danny should know, he'd been stuffed inside it enough times when he was younger.

Moving on to another locker, Danny slid a hand inside, opting to force the lock open from the inside as to not make the same horrible mistake twice.

A soft metallic clank was heard as Danny pulled his hand out, grabbing the handle. Listening sharply in case anyone else entered the room, Danny yanked the door open.

A cheeky grin spread across his face as he grabbed the contents inside.

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Nick Fury was past angry. He was furious. His only link to capturing Loki had escaped a containment cell built to harbour otherworldly gods, and he had no idea how the darn _thing_ did it. The entirety of the glass was frozen solid, and Fury's agents weren't even able to release the glass from its seal in case they did capture the Draugur again.

Massaging his forehead, he barked out a command, "I want all available officers to stop working on the cell and begin searching the Helicarrier! The rest of you, keep searching the rest of the planet for that god-damn god!"

Affirmations were heard throughout the room as agents quickly dispersed in teams. Thor walked up to him as the last SHIELD operative left the room.

"The Draugur is toying with us."

"Toying? Do you really think so? Danny doesn't really seem that bad. I mean, for a guy who was forcefully kept locked in a prison for no apparent reason – except for the word of a biased wannabe god." Steve said as he stood next to the pair.

Thor grunted distastefully, "Draugurs do not simply run away from battle, puny mortal. They are stubborn creatures that will wreak destruction at any chance just for the fun of it. There is nothing more feared in the nine realms than the Draugur. They were believed to have been locked away with Hel herself after the invasions in the early centuries on Midgard."

"What attacks?" Steve's eyes began to flit nervously across the room. Nick Fury stood poignant, but his hand hovered over his holster.

"Many died during that time. They were dark ages for the humans, us gods found the Draugur difficult to control. When Lady Hel was cast out of Asgard, we forced the Draugur out of Midgard as well," Thor clenched his jaw tightly, "There is no love lost between our kinds. I believed that my father had banished them forever. Obviously they have found a way out."

Fury cleared his throat, "That is all very good, Thor. But how do we destroy them?"

Thor looked agitatedly at the frozen chamber, "You cannot destroy a Draugur. You can only banish them," Turning and looking into Fury's single eye, Thor said, "Let me gather my people – we may be able to find and capture both Loki and the Draugur before the Earth is put into any more risk."

Fury almost scoffed, "Sorry to say, but it has come to my attention that your kind are incapable of taking care of even your _own_ enemies – let alone the Earth's. First with Loki, now with these _Draugur_. SHIELD is going to be taking control of the situation, and you might be surprised how far technology had developed, Thor. Draugurs may no longer be as immortal as they once were when we get through with them."

Turning on his heel, Fury ignored the dark looks from Tony Stark and Bruce Banner standing in the doorway, and exited the room, the ecto-gun in his holster pulsing lightly.

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Tugging the zip closed on the black suit, Danny gave a sigh of relief. Who knew putting a one-piece on was so hard? He wouldn't know what he would do if he had to shove himself into a tight uniform like this every day. It didn't help that it was two sizes too small. Sadly, it was the largest one he could find.

Glancing in the mirror, Danny looked over his appearance. The SHIELD uniform was snug on him and Danny was happy to find that the large boots covered his partially exposed calves. His black hair hung shaggily into his blue eyes as he brushed it back in an attempt to look older. His hair now resembled his dad's. Giving a sharp yelp of fear, Danny shook his head roughly, letting the black locks fall back into place.

Staring back at his reflection, Danny whispered, "Okay, you can do this, Fenton. Just keep calm and act like you know what you're doing. Just get in, find out what they're up to, smack Tony at least once, and get out. Easy."

Taking a deep breath, Danny grabbed the phone he had procured from his ventures in the lockers and nervously walked out of the room, thankful that at least his uniform wasn't orange.

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Okay, I lied. I posted a lot faster than I said I would. I got such positive responses last chapter that I couldn't help myself! Who needs a good education anyway?

But sadly, this isn't a very long chapter either and I again don't know when I will be updating. I'm a little sporadic with things like this.

Anyway, leave a little note for me in the box below and you will have my eternal love and blah, blah, blah. I'll stop hassling you now. (And thank you all for nearly 300 reviews! That is amazing! I never though this story would become so popular!)


	21. Distractions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Danny was lost. The weaving grey and white corridors had all begun to look the same. His only means of direction was to listen to the passing guards yell at each other through walkie-talkies, their voices harried and fearful as they talked about the 'Draugur'. His marking system of charring the walls had only made him more lost and it took too much energy in his human form to continuously travel through the walls.

Kneading his forehead worriedly, pacing in a tight circle, Danny pondered how he was going to pass the guards inconspicuously – his excessive height and youthful face had made him paranoid of the stares he caught by passing guards. It was only a matter of time before someone recognised that he wasn't actually part of the military branch.

Transforming back into Phantom was out of the question. The last thing Danny needed was the cavalry after him if he turned visible at the wrong time or place. He needed a distraction. Something to divert the guards away from him before they caught on. If only there were two Dannys…

Halting his scattered thoughts, Danny gave himself a sharp slap on the forehead –a reprimand for his stupidity.

Checking the corridor for spectators and cameras, Danny allowed the familiar rings to form around his waist, rapidly spreading across his body in a sheen of blinding white. The rings quickly dissipating as Phantom fully appeared. Making a silent prayer of luck, Danny screwed his eyes tightly shut, fists clenched tightly, imagining himself being physically torn apart. He could feel his body morphing as a duplicate slowly began to form, struggling to break free. His skin stretched taught as an additional arm sprouted out, following shortly after with the rest of the duplicate's anatomy.

Feeling an uncomfortable tearing sensation, Danny peeked opened his eyes, only to stare directly into another pair of glowing green. Danny heaved a heavy breath, before grinning successfully. No matter how many times the halfa did it, Danny could never duplicate himself as fluidly as Vlad could.

Nodding an affirmative at his other self, Danny watched as the duplicate gave him a cheeky salute in response, turning intangible and swooping down the corridor out of sight.

Waiting in the silence, Danny once again allowed himself to become encased in the white glow, reverting him back to his SHIELD uniform-clad self.

Danny began to lightly jog the opposite direction of Other-Danny, whose thoughts and emotions niggled at the back of his mind as each Danny travelled further away from the other.

Passing another bend in the maze, Danny caught the disappearing leg of an agent entering a room up ahead, Danny bolted forward, reaching the door in only a few lengthened bounds. A warning sign was fastened to the thick metal door, reading 'Authorised Personnel Only' in deep red letters. Ruffling his hair up in a hap-hazardous manner, ripping off one of the uniform's sleeves and tugging ferociously at his collar to make it tear, Danny ignored the sign and banged heavily on the door, sliding a look of distress onto his face. All those years of lying to his parents and classmates had finally paid off.

The door opened inwards and Danny was greeted with the sight of a short, greying man with a sour expression. He didn't seem too fazed by a six foot, eight inch boy with a roughly beaten appearance standing in his doorway. Maybe it would be easier for Danny to blend in than he had originally thought.

"What?" The stout man snarled up at Danny, "Can't you read? The sign says 'Get Lost!"

Slamming the door with a resounding boom, Danny was left staring at the cold metal.

Blinking in surprise, Danny tried again with short, sharp rapping, persisting when the door was not automatically opened for him.

The door was yanked back open and Danny hurriedly placed his anxious expression back on.

The other man's face was stormy, "I thought I told you to beat it?" He roared, "So what in the he—"

Danny cut him off, feigning fear, "Sir, its director Fury! He's calling all agents in to search for the Draugur! He wants you all to assemble in the…" He mentally checked the position of Other-Danny, "East Wing utility room. The situation is dire! We're losing fast – I was only just able to escape!"

The man watched him sceptically, "You've seen this 'Draugur'?"

"Yes, I was sent from battle against that… that… er…" Danny struggled for a way to describe himself, "_Thing_ to search for backup! Director Fury's orders, sir!"

The agent leaned on the doorframe, "Really? Well why haven't I gotten a radio call from anyone?" He asked sceptically.

Danny stayed silent, gritting his teeth agitatedly, mentally giving the okay to Other-Danny.

The man's lips were pulled into a smug smile, "No response, eh? I always knew you young recruits were too stupid to have any sense in a crisis – don't know why they bother hiring you grunts. You get in the way more than anything. This little joke is going straight to your commanding officer – who is it?"

Opening his mouth to give a snarky reply, Danny was cut off by an explosion in the distance, the corridor shuddering slightly with the aftershocks.

"Whoa! What was that?" A voice called from the room.

Worried mutterings quickly followed. Danny hid a smirk behind a weak cough.

"Shut up!" The short, greying man roared back into the room, "Until we are notified or warned in any way, we are to continue—"

A sharp crackling emitted from the walkie-talkie on the man's belt, Nick Fury's deep voice echoed through, "We need all available SHIELD agents to report to the East Wing! I repeat; all available SHIELD agents to the East wing, ASAP!"

The line cut dead. With a glare, the officer shoved past Danny, rushing past down the corridor, calling out orders to the men trailing closely behind. Danny clucked his tongue in amusement, strolling through – with a flick of Maria Hill's key-card – into the evacuated room.

Looking around curiously, he found the room lined with heavy artillery, each with a unique and strange design, workbenches stood in rows throughout the room with scattered remnants of weaponry splayed across their tops. A line of computers were shoved up against the back wall. Bingo.

Kicking the heavy metal door closed with his foot, Danny walked up to the closest workbench and began to drag it to the doorway, shoving the bench firmly against the door as a blockade.

Strolling over to one of the computers displaying an array of folders and files, he sat down. Glanced through them carelessly, his eyes widened as he caught sight of a familiar name; _Bruce Banner_.

Quirking an eyebrow, he clicked on the folder. A long list of icons spread out across the screen. Selecting at random, he frowned as a video player expanded and automatically began to play. Footage of Bruce in his other form played out, smashing through buildings and destroying military tanks with ease. Danny suddenly felt very lucky for only having to verse Bruce when he was in such a drastically weakened state – he had almost died in that battle. The halfa did not want to go head-to-head with a full-strength monstrosity like Bruce.

Closing the video, he shifted through the icons again, clicking arbitrarily. An assortment of documents opened; some presenting designs for weaponry, others playing small videos of ordnance demonstrations. Searching through, Danny became more and more confused – what would the relation be between Bruce and these weapons?

Clicking confoundedly on another icon, labelled 'PROJECT: _FriendlyFire_', Danny sucked in a sharp breath. A graph had opened in the bottom right corner of the screen, displaying rows of Bruce's health statistics. A range of weaponry was also displayed on the graph, presenting the assumptive effectiveness or ineffectiveness against the green monster.

Quickly closing the documents, Danny scanned for Tony Stark's name, opening his folder to find another 'PROJECT: _FriendlyFire_' file.

Clicking furiously on Thor's and Steve Roger's folders, he found the 'PROJECT: _FriendlyFire_' graph once again in each.

Danny groaned, resting his head in his hands. They were creating weapons to contain Tony and the others; keep them under SHIELD's control.

Half-heartedly clicking back to the mainframe, Danny noted a folder labelled 'Draugur'. He grunted when he found it locked.

Grabbing the phone stolen from the locker room, Danny keyed in a number he had memorised over the years. Holding it up to his ear, he began to chant distractedly, "Come on, come on! Pick up!"

Tucker's suave voice reverberated through the phone, "This is Tucker Foley speaking. If you are an incredibly hot girl wanting a piece of the T-Meister, please leave your number and the time you want me to pick you up for our date after the beep."

"Tucker!" Danny cried happily. It had been a while since he had talked to his friends. He felt a small pang of homesickness.

"Hey, Danny! Where have you been, dude?" Tucker's voice was worried, "I thought this was going to be a short there-and-back trip? You've already been gone for almost two days! Did you get lost or something? Because it turns out that New Mexico isn't actually in Mexico. Seriously, what's up with that?" He asked incredulously.

Danny ignored him, "Tuck, I'm in a bit of trouble and I need your help. Can you hack into some files for me? It's kind of urgent." Danny spared a glance at the barricaded door.

"Easy. What do you want me to do?"

"Can you hack into a military branch called SHIELD? They have some things I need to look at."

The self-proclaimed techno-geek sounded almost ecstatic at the prospect, "Just give me a few and I'll call you back."

Tucker promptly hung up on him, which earned the phone in Danny's hand a disgruntled look.

Standing up, Danny slowly made his way throughout the room, inspecting each piece of prototype weaponry carefully. Leafing through the drawers, he found a pile of manila folders labelled PROJECT: _FriendlyFire_, along with a few others. He threw a weak ecto-beam at the pile, causing them to combust and smoulder into ashes.

Hunting the room for more evidence of PROJECT: _FriendlyFire, _Danny found none. Hearing the phone chime, Danny hurried to pick it up, "Got anything?" He asked impatiently.

"Nope," Tucker replied dejectedly, "They're sealed tight, Danny. There's nothing I can do unless we hack in directly from the network… Hey, what type of phone are you using?"

Pulling the phone away from his ear, Danny studied the mobile unit, before putting the phone back up to his ear, "Something called a uPhone 6?"

Tucker sputtered on the other end, "A uPhone 6? Really? That is _so_ cool – they aren't supposed to be in production for another whole year! It makes my baby look like scrap metal!"

Danny smacked his forehead, "Tucker, focus! I need your help. Can you do it?"

A chuckle was his only response, "Easy, amigo. Since you're so much closer in range, I can just hack into your phone and go from there, no problem at all."

"Okay," Danny replied, setting the phone to speaker and placing it next to the computer.

The mobile's screen blacked out as green ones and zeros flitted across in a strange pattern that only Tucker could understand, until a ping sounded through the phone. The screen blanked again until a duplicate of the computer's files presented itself on the phone.

"Told you," Tucker's voice was smug, "The uPhone 6 is great. A real work of technological art. If used right, you could hack into any bank in the world!"

"Don't even think about it," Danny growled, before a grin spread across Danny's face, "Thanks, Tuck. You've been a big help."

"How long do you think you'll be? You sister's really starting to worry, and Sam and I are running out of excuses."

"I don't know, man. This whole mess has gotten way bigger than just Tony Stark pulling a prank on me." Danny sighed.

"Damn. Oh, hold on, Danny." A muffled feminine voice emerged over the line in the background, as Tucker murmured an agitated reply. A brief struggle was heard until Tucker let out a sharp "Ouch!"

"Danny?" Sam's voice called out.

"Sam, hey! What's up?" Danny called out cheerily. He missed Sam just as much as Tucker.

"I have to tell you something important – no, go _away_, Tucker!" A slap was heard as Sam growled into the phone, followed by another cry of pain.

"Sam, what's wrong? Are you guys okay?"

"_We're_ fine. The portal, however, isn't. Jazz said it opened up the other night and practically the whole Ghost Zone escaped through it!"

"What?" Danny cried, "Are you serious? The town's safe, right?"

"Yes, everyone's fine. The ghosts pretty much ran away the moment they passed through. Just disappeared. It was scary, Danny. All those ghosts flooding the sky. Tucker doesn't believe me though,_ he_ was _sleeping _the entire time."

Tucker's voice was indignant in the background.

Danny reclined in his chair, "Well, if they aren't doing any harm, I'm not bothering with them now."

"Not you too, Danny!" Sam moaned down the phone, "You can't just ignore something this big!"

"It's not that, Sam. I just have priorities – things I have to do first." Looking at the computer screen, he asked offhandedly, "Hey, do you know what a Draugur is?"

A sigh echoed in his ear, "Duh, Danny. Of course I do. We did an entire project on mythological beasts, remember? For history class? It's a Nordic grave-crawler."

"They think I'm a _what_?"

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They had the Draugur – or Danny, as Steve preferred to call him – surrounded. The large gym-room was crawling with SHIELD operatives in dark glasses, the Avengers – not including Tony or Bruce – stood either side of him.

Large glowing green guns were pointed in Danny's direction, yet the Draugur hardly seemed fazed.

"Give up, Draugur," Fury called, "We have you surrounded. These are state-of-the-art radiation-pulse guns. They have the ability to melt you from the inside out in less than twenty seconds."

Steve idly wondered if such a high level of radiation would cause more damage to humans than corpses.

Danny only grinned as he began to loop carelessly in the air. Steve heard Thor growl dangerously next to him, his hammer clenched so tightly in his hands that Steve saw angry red welts emerge on the palm as Thor shifted his grip.

Thor's control snapped as Danny childishly blew a raspberry at the group. He catapulted his hammer at the Draugur, who simply swooped around the projectile, firing a glowing green blast in the direction of the pseudo-god who simply stepped out of the way. It was a terrible shot – it barely met the ground where Thor had stood.

"Stand ready, men!" Steve heard Fury call from the sidelines. Natasha lifted her handgun in response, taking aim and firing off bullets. Each one missed as Danny mocked her by flitting about them, taunting her as she angrily reached for another cartridge. Clint Barton covered her as he let his arrows loose rapidly. Danny squeaked in surprised, his torso splitting from his lower half – only a thin wisp connecting his body together as they dodged the arrows. Steve's eyes widen with surprised as the rest of the Avengers and agents halted their offense, shocked at the unnatural contortionism.

Danny quickly morphed himself back into his original state as Thor broke out of his astonishment, charging at him with his hammer as he took a wild swing at Danny's head. Ducking, Danny took on a translucent appearance as he slipped through Thor's body across the room. Thor whirled around, once again hurling the hammer. Danny smiled cockily as he grabbed the hilt of the hammer, before yelping as he was dragged with the hammer's force into a far wall, compelling the surrounding agents to drop their weapons and dodge out of the way.

With a moan, the Draugur roughly shook his head, shaking shrapnel off himself as he stood covered in small cuts, before turning to yank out the hammer that had lodged itself into the metal wall. Futilely pulling at the grip, Danny planted two feet against the steel and heaved, before losing his grip, tripping back. The Draugur turned only to be met with Thor's heavy fist – forcing Danny to tumble to the side.

Nick Fury called out once again, "Take aim!" A loud hum resounded throughout the room as the agents' guns were raised. Steve felt the air electrify, "Fire!"

Steve saw Danny's eyes widen as bright pulsing green surrounded the Draugur, his outline burning into Steve's retinas as he quickly turned his head away, lifting his shield as protection from the burning light. Steve blinked rapidly as it died away, trying to lose the imprint of Danny.

Steve saw Thor grin happily through over-sensitised eyes. Fury following suit.

"Good work, agents. The Draugur is destroyed."

Looking to where Danny had last laid, Steve felt slightly sick looking at the melted and charred remains of the metal wall. A deep, scorched hole was all that was left.

The veteran felt a strange sense of melancholy sweep over him. The Draugur had been completely disintegrated – there was no way that he could have survived.

"Whoa, that was a close one! Don't you know that you should keep dangerous toys locked away from children? Especially the stupid ones?" A voice chuckled from above Steve. Looking up, he saw Danny floating near the vaulted ceiling lying on his back, arms tucked behind his head comfortably.

Steve gawked. How did he survive? He wasn't granted time to consider possibilities as Danny unwound his hands from behind his head rapidly shooting off more green beams at the agents' weapons – his carefree expression washed away with a look of concentration. The guns exploded on impact, the butts and triggers still clasped in their shocked owner's hands.

Another arrow shot towards Danny, skimming over the arm of the skin-tight black and white outfit. Steve heard Danny hiss as he grasped at the flesh wound– red staining the white gloves he wore.

Danny whipped his uninjured arm out and sent a short blast at Natasha's handgun, sending it flying across the room before angling his arm at Barton – his hand still glowing that eerie green. The bleeding one was aimed at Thor.

"Captain!" He heard Natasha call out, knocking him out of his musings.

"Oh, right!" Twisting his torso, Steve reeled back, before flinging his shield at the distracted Draugur.

It impacted harshly with Danny's shoulder, shoving him out of the air to tumble to the ground heavily. Thor leapt forward, swinging his hammer down at Danny's head, who responsively rolled out from under Thor, the hammer forming a small crater where the Draugur's head had previously been lying.

Planting a hand flat on the ground, ice began to develop from it, slithering its way across the ground in an icy trail where it wrapped around Thor's feet, traveling up to his knees – leaving his team member immobile. Thor thrashed in response, roaring fiercely, using his hammer to try and break free of the thick ice as Danny rolled back onto his feet.

Rushing over to where his shield had fallen, he watched as the Draugur aimed wild green energy beams at Nick Fury and his agents. All of them missing.

Steve furrowed his brow – he had seen Danny fight in Asgard. Very few of his attacks had missed, and he was more tactically cunning than he appeared. So why now, when he had the upper hand, couldn't Danny hit them?

Mentally shrugging, Steve spun his body, releasing his shield at the boy. Maybe he was just overthinking it.

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Danny was once again stalking through the corridors. After destroying the prototype weapons in the lab, Tucker had successfully downloaded a map for the halfa to navigate around the building – which made it a lot easier to walk through the winding bends. He had no idea how anyone who worked here knew their way around.

Mentally connecting with Other-Danny, he flinched painfully, "Okay, wow. Ow! What am I up to? My whole body hurts! I thought I told myself to distract them, not get my butt kicked from here to kingdom come."

Grasping at his head, Danny stumbled down the corridor, tripping through an automatic doorway to his right, "Oof!" he collapsed on his back, winded.

"Tch!" Danny grunted, rubbing his head to sooth the headache Other-Danny had forced on him.

A gasp met his ears, "Are you okay?"

Snapping his eyes open, he met the soft chocolate brown of Jane Foster's hovering over him where he laid, her hair forming a halo around her pretty features.

Grimacing, Danny pulled himself off the ground with Jane's aid, "Yeah thanks. I'm fine." His cheeks heated up in embarrassment. He always made a fool of himself in front of pretty girls. At least his pants were still up around his waist.

Looking around, he noted a large, long black table planted in the center of the room. One wall was dotted with small screens, a touch-screen control station in front. Glass panes lined the parallel wall, overlooking what looked like an operations room, brightly lit by the natural sunlight filtering through as they weaved through clouds.

Doing a double-take, his jaw dropped slightly at the passing clouds. Was he on some sort of huge aircraft or something?

Pushing back the urge to ask where he was, Danny awkwardly rasped out, "You're with the big scary blond guy with anger-issues, right?"

Throwing a confused look over her shoulder, Jane made her way over to the wall with screens, fiddling with the controls as she rewound a tape, "Thor doesn't have anger issues." She replied curtly.

"Well, what's with all the hate against m— er, I mean, the Draugur?"

"Prejudice," She stated, "He's listened to these stories about Draugurs terrorising Earth and feeding off human souls since he was young. Probably seen it happen too. He just doesn't want anyone to get hurt. Why are you asking? Don't you hate the Draugur, too? Everyone else here does."

Danny sputtered, "W-well yeah! But I mean what if we were wrong? Like, you know, we formed this idea of what this er… _creature_ is but we were wrong about it, and he's really not that bad and just wants to go home and see his family and friends and play video games and hang out at the Nasty Burger and—" Danny cut himself off. Apparently, pretty girls also made him ramble alongside being clumsy. Tucker would get a kick out of seeing him now. "Erm, hypothetically of course!" He added.

Jane seemed to miss Danny's slip of the tongue, as she sighed and turned to look at him, "A belief isn't just something you can just turn on and off – it's personal and biased," Peering at Danny's face, she said, "You look familiar. Have we met?"

Feeling his ears turn pink, he hastily replied, "Oh, um… no. I don't believe so. Not like _this_ anyway."

Jane frowned, before turning back to the screens.

"So…" Danny drawled out, peering over her shoulder, "What are you up to exactly?"

"I'm reviewing the surveillance tapes of the Draugur's escape – to see if we can find any weaknesses."

Danny cringed, stepping back, ready to exit the room at any given chance, "Really? Why would you want to do that?"

"Tony and Bruce thought it would be a good idea – makes me useful. It's also so we can learn its weaknesses in case it calls for backup." Running her hands through her hair, Jane narrowed her eyes, staring at the screen intently. Looking back at the retreating Danny, she paused the video and asked, "What's wrong?"

Danny's froze, "Uh, nothing!" He squeaked out unconvincingly, his eyes flicking from her and back at the frozen screens fearfully. Jane had paused on a close-up of Danny's ghostly counterpart's face. Catching his glance she gave him a quizzical stare, before turning her neck to study the screen, twisting it back so fast Danny worried that she might get whiplash.

Her big brown eyes pierced into him, "Oh, my god."

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A much longer chapter this time! I hope you all enjoy it! And don't worry, you'll get to see your precious Vlad and Loki soon.

Big thank you for your patience and your lovely reviews (wow, a lot of people really hate Tony... I honestly love him) and a shout-out to my more regular reviewers who are awesome! Ben RG, Nikitchi-tan, El Ohkin, Masked Bard of Chaos, Shaed Knightwing, ChopSuzi, TurkeyHead987, Az The Dragon, Sharkdude5 and everyone else I've forgotten (sorry about that)!

I read every single comment and take into account what you guys say or think. You're fantastic and you are the reason why this fiction is being written. Great work team!


	22. Headaches

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Jane's eyes were wide as she stared at the creature she had mistaken as a boy in front of her. Looking at the Draugur's humanoid face, she found the resemblance to be uncanny – she didn't know how she didn't catch it before. Dressed in a torn and shredded SHIELD uniform, the alien towered over her petite frame. Its hands were large – easily able to crush her if it chose to.

Jane's breath shortened into sharp bursts; her lungs burning from the deprivation of oxygen as her brain became fuzzy with fear and hysteria. Searching the room desperately, she hunted for a weapon – anything to protect her, but the only thing she could find was a water pitcher on the black table that was too far away for her to reach.

The Draugur was approaching her – cornering her against the surveillance controls. It was speaking in a low voice, yet she couldn't take in words it was saying as she watched its hands stretch out towards her. Was it going to strangle her? Crush her skull? Rip out her larynx and feast on her soul?

Running her hands across the controls – refusing to look down as the Draugur continued to approach her slowly – her wrist bumped across smooth porcelain – a coffee mug! Tracing the outline, she grasped the handle as the Draugur leant down to look her in the eyes, still speaking in that soft slow voice. Did it want to watch the fear and pain course through them as it slowly killed her?

Jane couldn't take it. With a fierce battle cry that would have made Thor proud, she lashed out, swinging the mug wildly at the Draugur's head, the porcelain shattering against its skull along with a wave of cold, half-drunk coffee splashing across its dark hair.

"_Ow_! What the heck did you do that for?" The Draugur cried, clasping its head in its hands, stumbling back and collapsing against the doorframe for support, its large body effectively blocking her only escape route.

Swivelling her head frantically, she ran to the large glass panes, her hands balled into fists as she raised them to bang against the window looking out towards the Operations Room below.

The Draugur had other ideas. One of its long arms wrapped around her waist, dragging her back further from possible rescue. She opened her mouth to scream when its free hand clamped over her mouth – effectively muffling her cries.

She began to squirm, kicking her legs out and jabbing her elbows sharply into its side. Silently enjoying the grunts the monster emitted.

It was speaking again, its voice taking on an agitated tone as it pulled her towards the black table. Was it going to gut her across it surface? Sacrifice her to a higher unknown being? Panic overtook her, giving her a second wind as she doubled her efforts to escape, biting down on skin covering her mouth hard enough to taste copper.

The Draugur let out a yelp, roughly dropping her into one of the many chairs surrounding the table as it cradled its hand.

The moment the Draugur let go she began to shriek loudly, her eyes clenching shut, in hopes that any SHIELD operatives or Avengers were close enough to save her.

Cold liquid splashed her in the face as her screams died off in surprise. Snapping her eyes open, she found the Draugur standing in front of her, the empty water pitcher in hand, panting hard with a frustrated expression.

A shocked silence filled the room as Jane blinked at the Draugur, water dripping off her hair to splatter into her lap.

"_Now_ will you shut up? Seriously, I have the biggest headache in the world and you had to go and make it ten times worse with your demented banshee screeches!" The Draugur huffed, its fingertips probing at the spot where the mug had collided with its skull, hastily pulling them away with a wince.

"Y-you're not going to kill me? Or eat my soul or something?" Jane asked timidly, curling up into herself, blinking water out of her eyes.

The Draugur looked disgusted, "Why in the world would I want to do anything like that?" It asked, miffed.

Jane cocked her head confusedly, her voice becoming stronger at the lack of hostility from the Draugur, "But what about what Thor said? About Draugurs being some of the most evil creatures in the universe?"

The Draugur chuckled, "Well I guess I'm not exactly living up to my reputation then, am I?" It shrugged, taking the seat next to her, inspecting its bitten hand, "A lot of the ghosts I know are really nice," Another silence filled the room, before the Draugur asked, gesturing towards the bite, "Am I going to need a shot for this?"

Jane ignored the jibe, "Well then, is this how you usually look? All human-like? You're not controlling some poor kid's body with your magical-zombie powers, are you?"

The Draugur stared at Jane confused, "Magical-zombie…? No!" Its expression turned aghast, "And I'm not a kid either– I'm nearly seventeen, thank you!"

Jane narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean _nearly_? I thought you were dead."

The tips of the Draugur's ears turned red as it coughed uncomfortably, "Er, I meant that I _was _going to turn seventeen before I – you know – uh, died," It shifted uncomfortably in its seat before jumping up suddenly, "Well, I kinda need to go now… nice meeting you!" The Draugur waved distractedly as it hurried to the exit, but froze at Jane's next words.

"Tell me the truth or I'll expose your human form to everyone. In case you didn't know, almost every room has a camera and I can easily identify you to the Avengers, who, by the way, seem to have a bit of a grudge against you – _especially_ my boyfriend." Jane crossed her arms and smirked victoriously.

Jane could see the Draugur's tense muscles become lax in defeat as it sighed heavily, "Darn it."

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Thor hammered furiously at the ice encasing his legs with Mjölnir unrelentingly as the thick ice slowly began to splinter off in a fine spray. The other Avengers were versing the death-demon with little result. Natasha had long since run out of bullets and was hunting through the crowd of SHIELD agents for an intact firearm. Barton's quiver had been stolen by the bomb-diving Draugur, and was currently hanging from one of the metal support beams running across the vaulted ceilings. Fury was barking orders at his pitiful amount of remaining agents, as many had fled shortly after the destruction of their weaponry.

Freeing his right leg from the ice, Thor roared out triumphantly, swinging his hammer with more fervour at the left. The ice buckled under the force before shattering. Dragging his legs free, the god grinned eagerly, tossing and catching Mjölnir with fluid flicks of his wrist, as he quietly stalked up behind the distracted Draugur. Hefting Mjölnir up in his grip, he pulled his arm back, aiming at the Draugur's head – whom was currently locked in battle with the Captain, unaware of Thor's newly-found freedom - and leant all his weight and power behind it; aiming for the killing blow. Not even a Draugur would be able to survive such an attack by Mjölnir.

A high pitched whooping of an alarm echoed throughout the room – distracting Thor enough to lose his momentum. Releasing Mjölnir in surprise, he gritted his teeth in frustration as the hammer flew over the Draugur's head – watching as it collided heavily with the metal wall, piercing through and making a sharp crack. The monster jumped in fright, twisting in the air to lock eyes with Thor, before giving a revelling grin and slipping through the walls out of sight.

With an angry yell, he called back Mjölnir, easily catching the hammer as he made to run out if the room and follow after the death-bringer, but was stopped by Fury.

"Thor, it appears we have located your brother," The director called over the ringing of the alarm, his hands clasped behind his back, "We are to regroup in the Operations Room for pending actions. Forget the Draugur for now, we have more important things to attend to."

Thor hesitated in his steps to follow after the Draugur, before letting out a resigned growl. Holstering Mjölnir, Thor gave an affirmative nod.

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Danny and Jane watched as the room below began to fill with SHIELD agents and operatives, the alarm still blaring. Their suits creating a sea of black – not too difficult to hide in, even with Danny's more-than-average height. He would be as invisible as he was with his Phantom powers.

"What's going on?" Jane asked, placing a hand on the large glass pane.

Danny shook his head, "Dunno."

Squinting down, Danny frowned as he watched Tony Stark and Bruce Banner make their way through the crowd, heading up towards the empty raised platform at the front of the room below them. If they looked up at the right angle, they would be able to see him. Slinking back deeper into the confines of the room, he edged his way towards the door, ready to slip through and escape at any moment.

"Jane!" He hissed at the scientist, who didn't glance up from the crowd.

She waved him off, "Just wait. I'm looking for Thor— Oh! There he is!" Jane pointed excitedly out towards the crowd. Danny reluctantly made his way back over to the window.

It was easy to catch sight of the god, along with his mismatched team that Other-Danny had battled just earlier. Watching as they made their way up to the platform, he let a gloating smile play across his lips at the thought of Thor encased with ice – screaming promises of a long and painful death when he escaped – while the SHIELD agents ran about like headless chickens at the sight of their destroyed weaponry.

Pulling himself from his memories, Danny cheerfully looked down only to feel his blood freeze in dread. A woman with red hair making her way to the platform had stopped in her tracks to glare up at him. Danny yelped, trotting back out of sight into the room.

Jane spun around to catch the halfa's expression, "Danny, what's wrong?"

"I think I just got caught," He replied breathlessly, tripping over a chair and collapsing into it, "The red-haired lady – next to Steve Rogers," He forcefully gulped in a lungful of air, his eyes widening in recognition as he muttered to himself, "I _knew_ I'd seen her somewhere before! She was the one with Doctor Banner, right before I met Tony!"

Jane stared at him, before shrugging and turning back to the window, scanning the crowd, "You mean Agent Romanoff? She doesn't look like she's figured anything out, more like she's confused about something."

Danny heaved a sigh he crept up to the window again. The woman – Romanoff –appeared to had lost interest, her expression creased with a slight frown as she turned her head towards Tony and Bruce standing on the other side of the platform.

Satisfied, Danny stepped back and said evenly, "C'mon, we'd better get going so we don't seem too suspicious."

"Sure, there isn't anything more suspicious than running a couple minutes late to a meeting you haven't even been authorised to attend. I mean, being a human-ghost hybrid hunted by the majority of the universe is much less suspicious." Jane giggled as she walked out the doorway, pausing to look over her shoulder when she noticed Danny wasn't following, "Aren't you coming?"

Danny rocked on his heels, "I'll just be a sec, I just have to do something first."

Jane simply nodded with another smile as she turned the corner and made her way down to the Ops Room.

The automatic door slid firmly shut as Other-Danny emerged through the far wall, hovering over to the original Danny and sticking his hand out. Danny felt the familiar tug, as Other-Danny was sucked back into him, merging the two into a single being. Danny felt his headache come back with a vengeance along with his duplicate's sharper memories.

"Ugh, okay. No more play-fights with the big kids for a while." He groaned, holding his head in his hands.

Shaking the ache off, Danny strode out after Jane, sending an ice-blast at the surveillance console, not even bothering to watch as his ghostly image on the screens flickered and died.

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Tony watched as Jane Foster slipped silently into the room, her short stature immediately hiding her from eyesight as she melded into the crowd of black-suited officers.

It was the second figure that caught his interest, however. Tall and scruffy, the boy in the tarnished SHIELD uniform attempted to duck down out of sight, crouching slightly to become level with the agents around him.

Chuckling under his breath, Tony nudged Bruce lightly in the side, tilting his head in Danny's direction at his friend's quizzical expression. The gamma-scientist lazily followed Tony's eye-line and raised his eyebrows in amusement, his own secret smile playing across his lips. Tony had to admit that Danny's camouflage was good – but still not good enough to escape his keen eyes.

Whistling shrilly through his teeth, Tony casually glanced over at his teammates to see if any of them had caught sight of Danny and possibly recognised him. All of them seemed oblivious, lost in their own musings as they waited for Fury's arrival.

Steve was watching the sun set in the sky outside the window, his eyes unfocused and was lost in his own musings. Clint was checking over the contents of a quiver – which not his usual one, oddly enough. Tony wondered where it had disappeared to. Thor was constantly swivelling his head, searching the high ceilings for a glimpse of something, fingering the leather thong of his hammer distractedly. From what Tony had heard of the 'Draugur's' escapades throughout the Helicarrier, he was almost certain he knew what the god was hunting for. Natasha, however, had her head lowered, her brow furrowed in concentration as she whispered to herself.

Almost as if she had sensed Tony's eyes on her, Natasha's head jerked up – their eyes colliding in a heated battle of will. With a roll of his eyes at the determined look on the woman's face, Tony broke off the contact first as he looked back into the crowd for Danny. He noted Natasha copying him in his peripheral vision, when she suddenly tensed, her hand automatically landing on her holster as she made to move off the platform – when she was luckily blocked by an ignorant Fury emerging onto the stage, gathering the rapt attention of everyone in the room.

Tony sighed, slightly relieved, before smirking. His little game of 'Guess Who' had just become a little more dangerous.

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Danny continued to weave his way through the crowd, dodging down warily when he saw Tony knock Bruce in the side and nod in his direction. Wandering deeper into the mob, Danny hurried over to one of the darker corners of the room, ignoring the curious and disgruntled glares sent in his direction at his appearance of his surrounding 'comrades'. At least no one had approached him.

Hunching his shoulders and leaning back against the wall heavily, Danny attempted to slide down it inconspicuously. It didn't work; he just got even more inquisitive looks – including the unwanted attention of Agent Romanoff who was watching him with a curious expression, her hand hovering over her hip.

Looking back up to the platform, Danny found himself to be surprisingly relieved to see Nick Fury's scowling face as the SHIELD director made his way to the center of the stage – distracting Romanoff who now stood rapt, hanging onto her commanding officer's every word. Danny wasn't shocked to find Fury had decided to skip formalities.

"We have found, ladies and gentlemen, that Loki is hiding in Vatican City. He's not exactly hiding from us this time either, with over two hundred cameras containing footage of him and his unidentified companion, who possibly aided in Loki's escape from Asgard. Now, I may not know what this _thing_ is capable of, but what I do know is that it is certainly _not_ human. I suggest you all be on your highest guard."

Fury tapped one of his translucent screens, a small projected hologram leaping out of the monitor, displaying a blue-skinned vampire creature with glowing red eyes. Gasps were heard throughout the room and Danny watched Thor growl ferociously, baring his teeth at the flickering image. The halfa could feel his own face scrunching up at the sight of the miniature Vlad. Tapping on the screen again, Fury allowed the hologram to dissipate out of existence.

"Now, our main priority is to capture Loki. Due to the Asgardians' 'unique' form of compromising that we humans would commonly refer to as _terrorism_," Fury glared at Thor, who returned the look with just as much fire, "We are to keep Loki alive. Since the other creature is not under such jurisdiction; kill on sight. If this thing is proven hostile, I want it removed from the situation before it had even started and destroyed as quickly as possible. Any friend of Loki's is not a friend of ours.

"All SHIELD agents are to evacuate the area of civilians and mark a perimeter eight miles round – we are sending in the Avengers to take out Loki and his friend," Fury nodded in the direction of the rag-tag group behind him, "We will be arriving at Vatican City in T-minus, twelve minutes. We don't know what Loki is up to, and I don't really want to find out."

Swiftly walking off the stage, Danny saw Tony roll his eyes at the director before following – the rest of the Avengers trailing behind.

The crowd quickly dispersed in a flurry of black as agents rushed to collect gear and weaponry, leaving Danny in a nearly empty room. Pushing himself off the wall, Danny jogged after the agents as they hurried out of the room.

Walking out into the empty corridor Danny frowned in thought. If Vlad was getting involved in whatever this was, it wasn't going to be good for anyone. It was just typical of Vlad to start an intergalactic war.

Checking for hidden eyes, Danny spread his feet, bending at the knees to gather his strength in his core and balling his fists, ready to let the flow of white-hot ectoplasmic energy overcome him, when he heard the sharp memorable click of a hammer being pulled back off a gun.

Tensing, Danny shoved down his ghostly power back inside himself, letting the energy tingle just beneath his skin – begging for release from its corporeal prison – and twisted around slowly, raising his arms in the air as a peace gesture. Looking down, he found himself staring at the end of Agent Romanoff's handgun, which was, once again, pointed at his head.

"How are you still alive? You're supposed to be _dead_." Natasha growled, her muscles lax despite her tone – ready to lash out at Danny at any given chance.

Danny shrugged as best he could with his arms in the air, "Only sorta," He grinned nervously down the barrel of her weapon.

Danny really hoped that being threatened at gunpoint wouldn't become a bad habit of his.

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Question time! Who's your favourite Avenger and why? Mine's Captain America - his mannerisms and obvious cultural distance with the modern world are just too funny and cute!

Also, don't forget to review - I love seeing your responses and thoughts. It only takes a few seconds to type something in the little box below, and it makes me ever so happy and want to update faster.


	23. Identities

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Tony casually meandered his way down the hallway, clipping on his Mark VII cuffs in preparation for the impending battle. Heading towards the surveillance room's staircase, he paused in his steps, hearing a familiar low feminine voice violently hissing somewhere further down the corridor. Shrugging, Tony changed his course to make his way towards the aggravated Natasha.

Turning a corner, he found an amusing sight. The female SHIELD operative had captured Danny Fenton in his borrowed uniform, threatening him at gunpoint. The boy was silent as Natasha continued to interrogate him with his arms raised in the air.

Chuckling, Tony ambled over to the pair, "Hey, Dan-Dan. Long time, no see."

Jumping in surprise, Danny whirled away from the assassin-turned-agent, before rolling his eyes in a tired manner.

"Oh great," he muttered to himself, "Here comes the heartless Tin-Man."

Tony ignored him, switching his gaze to Natasha, who was staring at him incredulously as he made his way to stand next to Danny.

Waving her gun at the ghost-hybrid, she growled out, "He's supposed to be dead! How is he not dead? I know he went down into the basement!"

Grinning excitedly at Natasha, Tony replied, "Did I forget to tell you? I apologise, it's so easy to overlook Fury's little minions – you all just blur into one."

Tony saw Danny glancing at him confusedly but he simply smiled in response.

Natasha's eyes seemed to be attempting to incinerate him with the heat of her glare, "_How did he survive?_"

"Uh, does it really matter?" Danny hurriedly cut in, lowering his hands to fiddle with them nervously, "After all, I'm just happy to be – er, _alive_. You know, with whatever happened that I don't seem to remember…" Danny petered off.

Tony looked bored, "If you didn't notice; the basement had a panic room. You know, the one with the big metal doors and DNA-recognition panel?"

Danny looked lost, "Wait, what about the portal?"

Tony gritted his teeth together and forced his mouth not to move, kicking Danny in the shin lightly, "When you versed Bruce, idiot. Did half-dying kill off all your brain cells too?" He whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Tony received a blank look before an expression of understanding bloomed across the boy's face as he rubbed his leg, "Oh? _Oh!_ Right! Yeah, I was hiding from the big scary green-guy in there. Totally safe. No blood-thirsty ghosts or anything after you in there!" Danny began to nod furiously, as if to help prove his innocence.

Natasha watched the two warily, "Well what are you doing _here_ then?"

Danny hesitated, watching the gun slowly redirected itself back at his head as the silence dragged on.

"Interning!" Tony chirped up finally, "He's working as my assistant – a job you proved to be horrible at. Company loyalty really does go a long way, Natasha, an aspect of your personality you should consider working on – besides acting like a mindless drone to Fury, of course."

Natasha's jaw clenched, before gesturing at Danny with the gun, who flinched in response, "Huh. Then why is he wearing one of _our_ uniforms?"

"Uh, because it's _Bring-Your-Intern-To-Work_ day?"

Tony thought he heard Danny groan.

Natasha opened her mouth to respond, when she was cut off by an approaching Clint Barton.

"Come on," Clint grunted, "We're heading top-deck to use one of the jets. Everyone's waiting," Pausing, the archer glanced over at Danny, "Who're you?"

Danny gestured to talk when he was cut off by Tony, "Danny Fenton, my newest intern. He'll be joining us down in Vatican City." The self-proclaimed philanthropist replied cheerily.

"Wait, I'm what? I can't join you down there!" Danny exclaimed, ignoring the gun still pointed in his direction by Natasha, waving his arms erratically.

"That's right, Tony," Clint stated, "We don't have time to babysit during battle."

"Hey!" Danny cried, put out.

"Don't worry, he won't get in the way, he'll be as quiet as a ghost." Tony replied with a thin smile.

He felt Danny stiffen next to him at his implications.

"I think you mean 'mouse', Stark." Natasha had dragged her eyes away from the tall teenager to give Tony a befuddled look.

Tony's smile twisted itself into a dark leer, "Who knows."

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Danny was thankful as he was offered the oxygen mask from a stationed officer, heading out of the alcove into the thinned air. The wind ferociously whipped his hair around him, snapping painfully into his eyes. He spied Tony up ahead, making his way over to a group of SHIELD officers carrying his suit.

He was lightly shoved in the shoulder by Clint in an effort to keep him walking. Looking towards their destination, Danny's eyes widened in surprise, "Whoa." He whispered through the breathing apparatus, in awe at the shiny black jet parked in front of him.

Clint noted his wonderment. Coming to stand next to the teenager, he said, "That's the SR-71, otherwise known as the _Blackbird_. Fastest manned-jet ever built – unless you're Stark. It's been publicly retired, but SHIELD managed to get their hands on a few," Clint smirked, adjusting his quiver, "With some minor alterations, of course."

Danny stood, still gaping at the jet as Clint walked past, crossbow in hand as he hoisted himself inside the Blackbird.

Looking around the landing-stretch, he saw Steve talking to Nick Fury, Jane and Thor farther away, whispering to one another. Averting his eyes at the private moment, he followed Clint into the plane.

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Bruce winced when Danny smacked his head against the ceiling of the Blackbird with a dull thud, the half-ghost grasping at his head with a growl of pain.

Biting his tongue as Danny sent a glare at the curved ceiling, Bruce asked confused, "Danny? What are you doing here?"

Clint glanced up from reviewing his bow, seated opposite Bruce, "Tony." He said, as Danny collapsed next to Bruce rubbing his forehead, muttering about headaches and coffee mugs.

"Oh." Bruce replied. That made sense.

Silence encased the three as they waited for the other Avengers to join them. Looking over at Danny, Bruce watched as the boy unconsciously began to wring his wrists, his eyes shifting as he glanced around the contained space nervously.

As Bruce was about to offer Danny moral support, Thor entered the jet, his oversized hammer in hand. The demi-god stood tall and strong, but did not reach Danny's tremendous height, easily missing the ceiling that had attempted to knock the boy's head off. Steve followed soon after, dressed in his traditional stars and stripes suit, shield in hand.

Thor stalked in proudly, seating himself next to Clint, Steve positioning himself next to him. The Asgardian let out a sound of surprise as he noticed Danny watching him warily.

"Good day, mortal-child! I am Thor Odinson, of Asgard! Heir to the throne, and soon to rule across all the nine realms of Yggdrasill!"

Danny looked taken aback by Thor's forward and friendly behaviour. He coughed uncertainly, "Er, I'm Danny Fenton of Amity Park. I don't really think I'm the heir to anything though – except maybe a concussion…"

Clint's eyes snapped up at Danny's mention of his hometown. Bruce eyed the archer speculatively.

The captain inclined his head in Danny's direction, "And I'm Steve Rogers. Pleasure to have another comrade on board. You are here to aid us in the battle, right?"

Danny shrugged half-heartedly, "I didn't really get a choice – Tony just sort of forced me here."

An awkward silence filled the room at Danny's statement, before Thor piqued up happily, "What is that delicious smell? I believe it is that beverage you humans call 'coffee'."

Bruce watched Danny turn pink and discretely sniff at his hair.

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Natasha stepped into the narrow jet's walkway and scowled. Just as Tony had promised, there sat Danny, chatting with the captain. The boy cut himself off as she strode past him into the cockpit.

Flicking switches, she said, "Buckle in, boys. The moment Tony gets here, we're leaving."

She rolled her eyes as the kid began to look around frantically for a non-existent seatbelt.

Metallic clanking was heard from the back of the Blackbird. Natasha craned her neck to see Tony standing there in his Ironman suit, an appraising look on his face as he noticed Danny sitting next to Bruce.

Casually slumping himself down on the seat, Tony stretched his arms out, almost hitting Danny in the face with a metal glove. The kid batted the hand away with a frustrated look as he turned his head, refusing to make eye contact with the gleeful billionaire.

The smile slid off his face as he looked towards Natasha, "Let's go."

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"You want me to _what_?" Danny cried exasperatedly.

"Just jump out of the plane. We'll get the advantage of scoping out the place while the others land the jet." Tony crossed his arms as he called out over the howling wind. The platform at the back of the jet had been lowered – easily enough room for a soldier to escape from.

"I can't just jump out without a parachute, I'll die! Give me one of those!" He gestured above Captain America's head at the wall of stuffed camouflage bags.

"Sure you can!" Tony laughed, "It's easy! You just do this!"

Tony planted a metal hand firmly into the middle of Danny's back, shoving the teenager off the platform out into the bright blue sky.

Danny yelped in response as he began to free-fall. Tumbling down towards the ground, his mouth opening into a silent scream. The ground was quickly approaching, speeding towards him faster than he cared for. Danny started cursing Tony Stark as gravity overtook him.

Cartwheeling uncontrollably in the air, Danny watched relieved as the jet zoomed out of sight, and he allowed the blinding white glow to pass over him, transforming him into his complementary form. A red and gold blur rushed past him, down towards the city below. Frowning, Danny used his gained momentum to race after Tony, promising himself to find a way to get revenge on the older man.

The flat-topped terracotta buildings loomed ever-closer, as the Basilica towered over them with its domed roof. His white hair whipped off his face as he dive-bombed towards the city center after the metal-man. Danny could make out each of the tourists and worshippers wandered about Saint Peter's Square as he slowed to a stop.

Perching himself on the top of the Obelisk in the center of the elliptical courtyard, Danny noted Tony standing on the eastern colonnades nearby, scanning the grounds. He gnashed his teeth in annoyance.

A piercing scream broke his thoughts as he twisted his neck to look down. Hundreds of people fled from the Basilica, tumbling out the doors of the Façade in hoards as a stampede erupted. Peering through the thick crowd Danny thought he saw a flash of pink light from inside.

Leaping down the Obelisk, Danny sped towards the Basilica, skimming over the heads of beleaguered tourists, shrieking at the sight of him. The crowd was not thinning as he headed closer to the row of doors – the escaping tourists and holy people had jammed themselves in the doorways in their desperation, making a human barricade as they cried out in fear and hysteria.

Looking around hurriedly, Danny bolted towards the nearest wall of the Façade, flattened his palms against the ancient stone. Concentrating hard, he felt the cool current of intangibility escape from his pores, spreading out across the wall as civilians collapsed in piles at the lack of support, before scrambling over one another as they fled the square.

The Ironman suit whirred down as it landed next to the panting Danny.

"Nice work, Dan-Dan," The metal mask added another dimension to Tony's voice, "Change back and let's go before the others get here."

With a nod and a sharp burst of light, Danny reverted back to his human self, in preparation for the other Avengers impending arrival.

Tony splayed a hand out in front of him as they entered the hall, his palm whining with white-blue energy that pulsed in rhythm with his arc reactor.

The Façade was empty. Stained glass lay scattered across the ground as unfiltered light cast deep shadows throughout the room. Their footsteps crunched as they stepped across the coloured shards, leaving sharp scratches against the polished marble floors.

Tony slid back his mask confused, "Huh, this wasn't much of a welcome party. I expected more from Loki – a parade, perhaps. Maybe even a few elephants."

"All in good time, Stark," A voice sneered from the shadows, Tony tensed, "I have chosen a different approach this time. Subjugation first, then celebration." A tall man stepped forward from the dark, dressed in a golden horned headdress, a green cape swirling behind him in his confident steps.

Danny couldn't help but simper, "So the party's fancy-dress then?"

The man growled, "Do not disrespect me, freak! I am Loki, of Asgard, and soon to be ruler of your pitiful planet."

Danny raised his fists, "Not while we're around. We can take you down any time." He said proudly, glancing over to the surprisingly sombre Tony.

Loki quirked an amused brow, "Oh, I do not plan to fight you, _half-breed_, I have others to do that for me."

Danny lowered his fists in shock. How did he know?

A collection of soul-shaking groans bounced off the walls of the Façade. Translucent green-skinned creatures glided easily through the thick stone, surrounding the two with ferocious snarls and glowing claws.

Loki threw his head back and laughed, "Do you like my new army, Stark? This one is far stronger than those weak Chitauri you slaughtered! These Draugur's are practically invincible!"

Danny heard Tony suck in a breath with a grimace, "Nice going, kid." He muttered, flipping his mask back over his face as he sent an energy pulse at a charging ghost.

Danny prayed the others would arrive soon.

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Phew, that was a tough one to belt out. I hope you all enjoyed it - we're finally heading up to the big battles!

Hopefully I got all of the descriptions of Vatican City right. I've never travelled outside of Australia so the descriptions of places are going to be a little vague.

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Here is last week's votes for their favourite Avenger (people that chose more than one get half-points):

Tony Stark/Ironman - 14 ½

Bruce Banner/Hulk - 6

Steve Rogers/Captain America - 8

Thor - 1 ½

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - 3

Clint Barton/Hawkeye - 5 ½

Poor Thor, so unloved. He's my second favourite. Danny also got a vote too, funnily enough.

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I will probably see you all in two weeks, since that's when I'm done with school and I can focus more on this story! Yay!

Hope you all enjoy and leave a review. I truly love them.


	24. Hostilities

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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The jet was filled with a shocked silence as Natasha directed the plane to the landing site. Nobody said a word as they sat in the back of the Blackbird.

Thor spoke up, "So… throwing humans out of your magical flying ships is a custom of yours?"

"Not usually, no. Even _I_ know that that's not a normal thing for this time," Steve growled, "Think he's okay?"

Bruce ran a shaking hand through his dark hair, "I don't think Tony would just hurl someone out of an airplane for the fun of it."

"The boy _is_ his intern after all." Clint finished, checking the tautness of his bow string.

"Intern? Danny?" Bruce leaned forward in his seat.

"That's what Tony said when I asked why the kid was here," Natasha's smug voice called from the cockpit, "Didn't he tell you?"

The gamma-doctor cleared his throat, "Of course he did."

A sharp scraping of metal met the Avengers' ears, followed by a violent shudder throughout the Blackbird, throwing Bruce off balance and making him collapse on the padded seat. Thor and Steve stood on unbalanced feet, weapons in hand, while Clint stayed seated, a hand hovering over his quivers with his weight pressed against the wall to maintain his balance.

"What in the world was that?" Steve cried, yanking his mask over his face.

Natasha's harried voice called back over the howling alarms from the dashboard, "I don't know! Something's damaged the left wing! She's going down! I'll try to control her as much as possible, but make sure you're ready to jump!"

Bruce picked himself up off the seat as Steve tossed him a parachute, "Do you think it's alien?"

"I don't know and I don't really want to find out. One invading extra-terrestrial race is enough for me."

The Blackbird began to fall into a steep decline, Bruce glimpsed sparks emitting from the controls as Natasha grasped at the control stick, pulling back hard as they continued to tumble down.

"Clint! I need a little help!" She yelled at the archer.

Clint slipped through the cockpit into the opposing chair, pressing expertly at buttons and switches.

Bruce pressed his hands against his face, concealing it from the other's sight as he attempted to focus. His heartbeat accelerating dangerously as he took deep shaking breaths.

"What is _that_?" Steve called out, breaking Bruce out of his focus.

Following the captain's line of vision with a stronger leash on his other side, he caught sight of a humanoid creature flying in front of the Blackbird through the windscreen, following their descent. Its shock of black hair stood stark against its blue skin as red eyes leered at them through the thick glass, before the being was swallowed by a thick cloud.

The lights on the dash died completely, Clint furiously flicking at a switch, before giving the control panel a swift stomp with his boot, dashing out of the co-pilot's chair.

"Abort, abort! Everyone out of the jet!" The agent cried as he grasped Natasha's wrist, wrenching her out of her seat towards the opened hatch at the back of the plane, grabbing two parachutes along the way.

Bruce clipped the bags straps around himself, breathing heavily through his nose as he attempted to keep calm. Thor was heading towards the front of the plane, his hammer raised, when Steve pulled him back, shoving him in the direction of the lowered platform already wearing a parachute of his own.

With a grumble, Thor tossed himself out of the jet, hammer held in front of him as he quickly disappeared into the late afternoon sky. Natasha and Clint quickly following suit with their parachutes.

"Come on, doctor, time to fly!" With a nod, Steve catapulted himself out of the plane, leaving a bewildered scientist behind.

"Oh boy." Bruce whimpered.

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Clint landed firmly on the ground outside the perimeter of Saint Peter's Square. He could see the Basilica in the distance a few miles away.

Expertly unclipping the emptied pack, Clint headed towards the Vatican' core, bow in hand. Thor was nowhere in sight, most likely having flown directly to the church with his hammer.

Clint didn't slow down as three pairs of feet pounded after him.

"What_ was_ that thing? An alien of some sort?" Bruce puffed out, trying to keep up with Clint's elongated strides, shedding his own empty pack.

"I'm thinking something more close to home. Transylvanian, perhaps." Clint grunted in response.

"I get that reference!" Steve stated proudly.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Well whatever it was, it certainly wasn't friendly."

Clint scanned their surroundings. Abandoned vendors and cars lay strewn about the narrow road, the streets surprisingly empty.

"No one's here. Someone's cleared this place out." Steve concluded, raising his shield protectively.

Bruce's voice was hollow behind Clint, "Or _something_."

"Oh, you're quite right about that." A deep chuckle called from above.

Whipping an arrow out of his quiver, Clint swung his bow around, aiming at where the voice had emerged.

A tall, vampiric figure stood on top of the ancient tiles of a bookshop, a vicious grin spread across its face, its teeth a blinding white against its unnaturally coloured skin.

"Who are you?" Steve never lowered his shield.

The figure responded with another snicker, leaping down the building swiftly before brushing imaginary dirt of its pristine white-cloaked shoulder, "The name's Vlad Plasmius, and I am first and foremost a ghost. I suppose your silly little organisation would refer to me as one of those mindless zombie-drones the Asgardians were so used to all those years ago," Vlad licked his incisors threateningly as his palms began to glow a violent pink, "It might interest you to know that we've evolved far beyond anyone's expectations, and we're far more dangerous than ever before."

The Draugur flicked his wrist lazily, his dangerous teeth still bared at the group.

A cold green hand slid through the cobblestones, clasping itself around the archer's ankle and yanking his foot out from under him. Clint stumbled before collapsing against the road, unable to keep his balance as his notched arrow came loose, flying wayward from Vlad's position before lodging itself deep into the stone wall of the bookshop.

Rolling over onto his back, Clint swung his bow around smacking the glowing green fist sharply with its metal frame. The hand retracted back into the earth with a sharp squeal of pain.

Rolling back to his feet, Clint whipped out another arrow, skipping back and taking aim again at where the hand had emerged, jumping back with a shout as a pink beam of energy flew at him, forming a small, smoking crater where he had last stood.

Gun shots reverberated through the empty streets, Natasha growling frustrated as Vlad easily dodged her bullets.

"Bruce," Clint heard Steve call out, "I recommend you sit this one out. The streets are too narrow and I'm pretty sure you'll do more damage to us than them in this case."

Bruce moaned in response, kneading his forehead with his eyes clenched shut as he struggled to contain his beast.

"Now where's the fun in that, I ask? I would very much like to see this monstrosity out at play." Cackled Vlad, sending another pink blast at Clint, who ducked within a hairs-breath. He could feel the energy singe the stubble on his cheek as it grazed past, before colliding with a pillar behind him.

The three-story building's balcony swayed precariously as the pillar crumbled, loose chunks of rock shattering as it hit the earth.

Gritting his teeth, Clint selected an exploding arrow, setting it to armed as he flipped it comfortably into his palm and notching it, pulling the string back as far as it would go and letting it fly. The arrowhead sped towards the blue-skinned ghost, its red light flickering dangerously.

The Draugur's head whipped up as it watched the projectile fly towards him. With a dark grin, he coolly stepped out of its path with a smirk, his cape fluttering behind with his movements.

The arrow pierced itself deep through the cloth, slamming into the rock behind Vlad.

The ghost frowned, "That was my favourite cape," Vlad snarled, tugging furiously at the arrow, "You will pay for—"

The arrow detonated. Red and orange flames shot out of the head as they quickly spread over Vlad's body. Clint turned his head away from the blinding light, shielding his eyes with the back of his hands and mentally complimented himself as he turned to watch the flames slowly flicker and die. The wall had collapsed, encased in a cloud of dust and smoke.

A roar resounded from the remnants of the explosion. Vlad stalked out of the debris, his once impeccably white clothes were charred, his skin covered in soot, making his fang's seem even deadlier. The red eyes were manic as they stared at the group.

Clint cringed as he berated himself under his breath. He had forgotten one of the first rules of his training – always make sure your target is properly disposed of before lowering your guard.

The Draugur was beyond words. With a hiss, it charged up its palms, smacking them together as it shot energy at an off-guard Bruce, sending his body tumbling into the unstable balcony with a shout of pain.

Bruce fell onto the ground with a groan, wheezing as he tried to suck in air. The balcony swayed once more as terracotta tiles from the room smashed around Bruce's fallen figure, before the balcony tilted too far. The support beams snapping as the marble tiles became too heavy for them, raining down on the doctor's body.

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"No!" Steve cried, racing towards the debris, chocking as dust snuck into his lungs.

Flinging large chunks of marble and rock out of the way, the captain vainly trying to dig the doctor out unharmed, muttering to himself reassurances. Natasha and Clint stood nearby, out of range of Steve's hectic actions.

Piercing laughter met his ears, making Steve pause in his excavation, "What a shame. I so desperately wanted to meet this creature that SHIELD had so proudly boasted about. I guess Doctor Banner never did live up to his reputation. Well I suppose you can't believe every rumour you hear." Vlad's voice took on a falsetto, "Tata!" He mocked.

Steve watched as a glowing green blob slipped through the ground next to Vlad, who waved cheerfully before vanishing.

Anguished, Steve turned back to the rubble, ripping it apart with more fervour than before. He caught a glimpse of Bruce's button-down shirt as he continued to shove rocks out of the way.

He paused when the blue shirt disappeared from sight. Muffled grunts emerging from the debris as rocks slid off the pile of their own accord. A hand pierced through the hole Steve had formed, making the captain jumping back in surprise. The tendons strained against the pink, scratched skin as it twitched frantically, the skin taking on a sickly green hue as it grew, becoming firmer in texture, similar to cow-hide.

"Everyone back!" Steve ordered, shoving himself to his feet, "We have to get out of here!"

Natasha and Clint didn't hesitate, racing down the street, they sharply took a corner out of sight. Steve chased after them, shield in hand.

A thunderous roar met Steve's ears as he flew down the streets towards the Basilica. Vlad had gotten what he wanted, and now no one was safe.

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Danny dodged another green beam aimed at his head, tucking himself into a roll as he ducked behind one of the large archways, cursing his stupidity. If only he had though to bring his thermos with him when he went after Tony! His sister was always nagging him about taking it everywhere he went. Danny supposed this was his punishment for not listening.

"Incoming!" Danny heard Tony call. Peering his head out from the stone archway, he retracted it just as quickly as he watched as an ectopus soar by, smashing into one of the embedded statues of the thirty-nine saints. Stone crumbled at Danny's feet as he rushed back out onto the nave, the polished marble floors making him slip slightly in his reinforced boots. Gaining his balance he dodged another ectoblast, kicking a foot out to trip an unrecognisable ghostly blob, which shrieked shrilly in retaliation and fled.

Wincing at the sound, Danny charged further into the Basilica, spotting Tony flying overhead as the Ironman forced another ghost face-first into the ground with a metal fist. He seemed to be almost having fun. Sending an extremely weak ectoblast at an approaching ghost, Danny silently wished for the seventh time that he could transform into his ghostly self – the others were taking way too long to get here.

The quad-buttressed alter was fast approaching. The black and gold rods towered over Danny's head on their pale carved pedestals, Saint Peter's tomb laid sunk into the ground at its base, surrounded by ornamented banisters. The candelabras that had been placed strategically around the entrance had long since died, a faint green glow emanating from further in the catacomb.

Hefting his body up over the lip of the banisters, Danny crouched down, leaning forward to jump in.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A smooth voice called out, echoing through the nave.

Glancing up, Danny found the black-haired god reclined carelessly in an embellished throne of painted stone at the end of the Basilica, a thin smile playing on his lips. A single stained window was mounted high above Loki's head, a white dove painted delicately in the center as surrounding statues of angels and cherubs reached desperately for it.

Stepping off the banister, Danny edged around the alter towards Loki at a languid pace. The long marble hallway was littered with craters, some still smoking as the beautiful architecture laid in ruin.

Stepping closer, Danny lifted his chin defiantly. He had versed and beaten much stronger than Loki and won. He wasn't going to act scared, no matter how manipulative and cunning the god was.

"I have a proposition for you," Loki stated cheerily as Danny stopped at the base of Saint Peter's chair, "It appears that SHIELD has taken something that belongs to me. I would like you to get it back."

"What?" Danny retorted, "Your dignity? I'm afraid that's long gone, dude, the moment you put on that hat."

Loki's laugh was hollow, "Plasmius warned me about your tasteless humour. I see that I will have to deal with you in a more… _unique_ manner to the others," Throwing his legs across one of the arms, Loki stroked the throne fondly, "I have to give it to you humans, you've certainly done well for making me a proper palace. Not as good as Asgard's, but I suppose it will suffice for now."

Danny frowned, hand clenched by his sides, "I'm not just going to let you destroy the earth and take over the universe!"

"Oh stop being so melodramatic, Daniel. Honestly I don't know how you come up with these things. Must be a trait from that imbecile of a father you have."

Whipping around, Danny was only able to glimpse a flash of red before a heavy fist met his jaw, catapulting him into one of the many pews with a splintering of wood.

"Ow." He mumbled, shaking slivers out of his hair. Luckily, his uniform had saved him from most of the damage.

"Another peculiarity you seem to have inherited from the dunderhead. Always expect the unexpected, my boy. One of the first rules in the textbook." Vlad's boots clicked smartly against the destroyed flooring as he stepped closer to the fallen Danny.

"Why don't you take your own advice, Dracula?" A robotic voice called out as a flash of white-blue energy careened towards the older halfa.

Vlad barely had time to flinch when the shot hit him hard in the chest, sending him flying towards the base of Loki's throne. Hairline fractures scattered through the stone as Loki glowered down at the ghost, "You had better fix that."

Tony swooped down beside the teenager, his mask flipping back off his face, "You okay, Danny?"

Danny sat up, rubbing his jaw, "Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to the ghosts?"

"Dunno," Tony shrugged, hauling Danny up to his feet, "They just suddenly disappeared the moment Monsieur Hypothermia popped up."

A crash of glass resounded throughout the nave. The large clear windows at the entrance were blown out as a large blond figure propelled itself through the raining glass to land on top of the embezzled altar.

"Loki," Thor rumbled, "Come and fight me like a true Asgardian – do not use your petty tricks to hide behind others!"

Sitting upright, Loki rested his chin on his hand, "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, dear brother of mine. However, I'm not _really_ an Asgardian, am I? So you're argument is void." Loki sneered at Thor as the other god dropped to the ground, stalking towards the throne.

Tony's feet clunked as he stepped towards the brothers, "You know, I really wish you two would get over your little 'daddy' issues. Because every time either of you two have a temper tantrum, _we,_" Tony motioned at Danny and himself, "Have to face the consequences."

Both Loki and Thor ignored him.

"It does not matter to me the blood that runs through your veins, only that your sense of honour is still intact."

Loki laughed long and hard, "Honour? You question me about honour, brother? The god who only thinks for himself? Striking out at those who you find beneath you without any proof or justice? You're so blinded by power you can't even see what has been hiding from you in plain sight!"

"I do not look down on the humans! I will never! They are my equal!" Thor snapped.

Loki's laughter died down to a simper, "Oh, I didn't say anything about humans. I was talking about something _much_ higher on the food-scale."

Clapping his hands, Loki's grin widened. A thin wisp of cold air escaped from Danny's mouth, dissipating into the air. The ground began to shudder as a humungous black monstrosity dragged itself out of the earth, flanked either side with dozens of ghosts. The dragon stretched out its neck and roared, blue flames escaping from its gaping jaw.

Vlad leant against Saint Anthanasius' statue, arms crossed, "Is the machine operational?" he asked a nearby ghost. The spectre nodded, "Good. Let Aragon have some fun then – but keep the boy alive, we still need him."

Dark laughter filled the Basilica as the dragon loomed over the trio, its sharp incisors on full display.

"Man, I really wish I hadn't met you, then I wouldn't be stuck in these types of messes." Danny whispered to Tony.

Tony's face was bare of its usual smirk, "Trust me, with your little hero-complex, it was inevitable." He replied before leaping at the dragon, fist charged.

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This was posted earlier than I expected, but I've damaged my wrists a little so I got a reprieve from school.

I really enjoyed this chapter and I hope you do too. To the anonymous reviewer who asked why Danny wasn't an Avenger yet; patience is a virtue. This is going to be a long story and I don't like to show all my cards in the first round - that's what makes people keep coming back.

Also, to the people who were upset that Bruce wasn't more popular, it just shows that more Tony-lovers reviewed than Bruce-lovers, not that he isn't popular.

Anyway, I'd love to see what you guys think so I'd love to read some reviews.

As Vlad would say,_ "Tata!"_


	25. Propositions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Danny dodged another glowing claw and countered with a heavy boot, kicking the ghost squarely in the chest as it tumbled into its comrades. Danny swivelled around to send an uppercut into the jaw of another unrecognisable blob sneaking behind him. In the confusion he saw Thor beating an ectopus with childlike glee, his hammer swinging madly. Tony hovered overhead aiming blasts at the black-scaled dragon.

Aragon roared as Tony's fist planted itself into the side of his face, his head whipping back with a snarl, sharp teeth gnashing at the retreating robotic figure. Rearing back onto his hind legs, Aragon forcefully stamped them into the ground, forming hollowed craters where his feet had planted themselves into the pale marble.

Danny waved his arms precariously to keep his balance as the ground shook, stumbling back as wide crevasses spread across the ground, running up the large pillars either side of the nave. Thor stood still, eyes focused on the ginormous Draugur in front of him, unflinching as it bared its teeth and roared.

Tony dove to attack again, aiming between Aragon's eyes as the dragon stretched his mouth wide, blue flames flickering deep within its throat. Danny cringed as Tony was encased in the ball of fire, forcing him back and colliding with a stone column, collapsing next to the statue of Saint Benedict.

Turning to the dragon, Danny found Aragon's large red eyes narrowed on him, a wheezing laugh escaping his smoking maw, "Halfa, you're next." Aragon crowed, rising back onto his hind legs, sharp claws glinting in the dim light.

Vlad intervened, casually brushing dust off his white suit, "He's not the primary objective, Aragon. I'd recommend taking out the easier prey first." He smirked at Thor, who gripped his hammer's handle tighter with a sneer.

"Ha! Do not think so low of me, you disgusting beasts! As if a Draugur could ever beat a god!" Thor mocked, his bravado unwavering as Aragon reluctantly turned on him, "I shall show you the true power of an Asgardian!"

Clutching the tether of his hammer tightly, Thor began to rotate it, gaining momentum. Having seen this attack directed at him more than he'd liked, Danny hurried back out of range towards where Tony laid.

Thor let out an angry scream as he let go of the band, the heavy stone flying at Aragon, too fast for the dragon to dodge.

The hammer collided with Aragon's ribcage with a crack, throwing the dragon across the main Tribune to crash into the golden angels moulded above Saint Peter's throne. Vlad and Loki quickly ducked out of range of the falling dragon, a scowl marring Loki's face as he watched his grand chair crushed under Aragon's mass.

Pulling his eyes away from the scene, Danny brushed loose bits of rubble off Tony who grunted when Danny jostled him too roughly.

Danny hissed through his teeth apologetically, "Are you okay?"

With slow movements Tony slid back his paint-peeled mask, his face a patchy red covered in welts. Danny grimaced at the sight of the burns, "For the most part. I obviously need to make some my adjustments on my suit though," Tony admitted, "This thing can take on the exhaust of a rocket shuttle and not get charred. That overgrown lizard takes one shot at me and I look like the day's special at a Korean barbeque."

Danny chuckled weakly at Tony's bad joke, touching the older man's forehead, "Here."

The halfa felt a shiver run up his spine as he coaxed his ice powers out. A weak jet of cold spread across the Tony's face to travel across the rest of his body, simultaneously cooling his smelted suit. Tony sighed in relief as Danny's energy began to a trickle.

Tony batted Danny's hand away once the stream of cool had died. Sitting up abruptly, the Ironman rolled his shoulders, checking his warped suit for impeding damage. Tiredly, Danny fell backwards onto the uneven floor panting slightly. He could feel his stamina draining at an alarming rate the more he used his ghost powers as a human.

Running a hand through his matted wet hair, Tony grinned easily at Danny, his face no longer as red or swollen, "Thanks, kid."

Danny smiled back, too exhausted to reply.

A loud crash made Danny jump. Swivelling his head, he found Thor shouting incoherently as he was pinned down by dozens of ghosts, which threw ectoblasts at him each time he was able to wrangle himself free. Aragon loomed over the god, favouring his left foreleg.

"Whoops. Guess we forgot about those guys," Tony nodded at the ghosts, patting Danny on the shoulder as he stood. Burnt flakes of red and gold paint rained down on the unhappy halfa, "Okay, round two, big boy." Powering up his thrusters, Tony kicked off, flying towards the ghosts pinning Thor.

Danny heaved himself up to follow Tony, when a flash of green and white caught his eye. Vlad and Loki were slipping away from the fight, through to the Northern Transept. Wiping the sweat off his brow, Danny chased after them, snatching a broken pew leg as he rushed out of the Tribune.

Sneaking after the pair, Danny lifted the large chunk of wood in a fashion similar to a baseball bat, his footsteps almost silent over the screeches and battle cries of ghosts. Danny was only a few feet behind them now – it would only take one good blow to temporarily take them out of commission. Danny swung the pew leg back—

A thick black tail smashed into the ground in front of Danny, showering him in sharp shards of marble and forcing him to jump back. Danny flinched as a sliver split the skin beneath his eye, leaving a long thin trail of red and was thankful that his SHIELD uniform had taken most of the damage. He didn't have time to consider investing in one of his own as Aragon's tail whipped out again, catching the halfa in the back as he was catapulted further down the confession hall.

Danny flew through the air, a cry of surprise tearing itself from his throat, only to be followed by a shout of pain as he smashed through a stone banister at the alter of Processus and Martinian, rolling to a stop at its base with a groan.

"Really, Daniel, you actually thought you could sneak up on us?" Vlad's boot clicked jauntily as he strode closer to Danny's fallen figure, Loki's slower metallic clinks not far behind.

Danny coughed uncomfortably, "Well, at least I don't look like I've just escaped a bad Halloween party."

Danny heard Vlad scoff, affronted, before an explosion of white pain spread across his lids.

With a sharp yip, Danny yanked his arms into himself, cradling his crushed fingers as soon as the heavy metal-plated boot had relinquished its hold.

Danny squeezed an eye open to find Loki's face hovering above his own, "You might want to watch how you speak to us, half-breed. You wouldn't want us to accidentally expose something about you that we shouldn't, would you? Especially since this is not your fight to lose."

Danny glared up at Loki, "I won't let you destroy the earth if I can help it."

"Who said anything about destroying the earth? I want to rule it, not obliterate it, foolish creature," Loki narrowed his eyes at the halfa, "Besides, what do you owe the earth? From what I have been told, you are even scorned by your own birth-parents. Why would anyone want to protect something that fears them so greatly?"

Danny's teeth clenched, "Because it's the right thing to do."

Loki threw his head back and laughed, "Your logic makes no sense! You wish to save the world from fear when you are one of its greatest threats! Martyrdom does not suit you, _Daniel_. You would be much more suited to rule alongside us." The god stretched out a pale hand to the younger boy with a composed grin.

Danny hesitated before stretching out his own uninjured one, grasping the god's in a firm grip. Loki smirked victoriously at Vlad who growled in response, when he suddenly wrenched his hand back with a yelp, his palm smoking. Feral eyes swivelled onto Danny who wheezed a laugh, the green glow of his hand absorbing back into his skin.

Loki lashed out frustrated, kicking Danny's bruised ribs. Danny gasped in pain, rolling further towards the alter to come to a stop lying face-down, moaning softly.

Twisting his head, Danny found Loki's face smirking victoriously, while Vlad looked on, "You're eons too early to take us on, ghost-freak, but you're far from expendable at this point of time. You're worth far to me this time around than that brainless hulking green mass your so-called 'Avengers' call a _companion_."

Vlad sneered down at Danny from his spot next to Loki, "Let's see how truly loyal a mindless beast can be when you bait it without consequence."

"What did you do?" Danny gritted out painfully.

"Now why would you think _I_ did anything, Daniel?" Vlad waved his hand flippantly, "The good doctor should really learn to control his temper, anyway. Especially if he puts so many others at risk." Vlad's fangs peeked out from between his blue lips.

Placing a hand on the god's shoulder, Vlad continued, "We will see you again soon, Daniel, consider our proposition. Oh, and give your mother my regards when you can." With a slight shimmer, both Vlad and Loki disappeared.

Danny grunted as he rolled onto his back, staring up blankly at the mosaic of the two martyred saints above the alter. The dull thud of his blood in his ears drowned out the sounds of the battle in the nave as he reflected on Vlad and Loki's words. What _was_ he doing here anyway? How did this become his fight?

Danny felt a wave of homesickness rush over him. He wanted to be at home, ignoring his nagging older sister and laughing at his overzealous parents. He wanted to go to school to hang with his friends and act like a normal teenager.

With a shuddering breath, Danny slowly reached into a concealed pocket on his chest-plate, nervously pulling out the phone he had borrowed from SHIELD. Danny groaned at the sight of the cracked and punctured screen, hurling it across the room angrily. The phone clattered across the floor, scraping to a stop a short distance away.

Danny turned back to look up at the mosaic, studying the artwork keenly, before sighing in resignation. Tony was right, it really was inevitable that he ended up here, he was just as much a martyr as the saints in the painting, no matter what Loki and Vlad said.

A resounding boom met Danny's eared as he craned his neck back to the fight. Thor had hurled Aragon's limp body through the dome of the Basilica, a gaping hole letting in the Italian sunset's unfiltered light. Pinks and oranges splashed throughout the Basilica as Danny felt a warmth inside him grow as he listened to Tony's jeering laughter in the background.

Nodding to himself, Danny shoved himself painfully to his feet, swaying slightly as he stumbled towards a damaged banister, leaning heavily against it, his mind focused on letting his ghost powers flow over him. Concentrating, Danny felt a familiar tingle run through him as a flash of white overcame his vision. His pain numbing as his energy was revitalised, turning from a sharp pain into a dull ache that he quickly shoved into the back of his mind.

Standing tall, Danny grinned. It was time to prove Loki and Vlad wrong.

With a burst of speed, Danny flew through the open gap of the dome, cheekily calling out a friendly, "Hi, Thor!" as he zoomed past the surprised god into the streets of Vatican City.

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Natasha ran next to Clint, puffing slightly as they dodged through the narrow streets. They had lost Steve a few blocks back when he had twisted away from the group as a distraction. As courageous as the move was, Natasha wasn't going to follow the captain's lead, especially after hearing Banner's angry snarls shortly after the team broke up.

Looking around worriedly, Natasha spied the large colonnades of Saint Peter's Square between the architectures, "Up to your left!" She called out.

Clint made no sign of hearing her other than leaning his weight to the side as not to lose his drive, Natasha copied his movements as they rushed out onto the main street, turning sharply and bolting through the wide-set colonnades towards the Basilica. Their only hope was to keep out of range of Banner's monster and hope it calmed down before it found Steve.

Speeding past the Obelisk, Natasha caught sight of a figure in black dropping out of the sky to land at the base of the stone statue.

Twisting on her heel, Natasha didn't hesitate to fire at the figure with her handgun, emptying the cartridge at the white-haired Draugur.

The bullets slipped over the zombie-ghost's head as it ducked suddenly, embedding themselves into the Obelisk. Six small holes centred directly were the Draugur's head had been.

As Natasha reached for another cartridge, Clint pulling his bow string taut next to her, the Draugur roared out, "Will you stop shooting at me! I need to talk to you!"

Clint simply let his arrow fly. It would be impossible for even an amateur to miss the Draugur, let alone a master archer, the distance was far too short for the monster to dodge.

But the arrow simply went straight through the Draugur's semi-opaque head, shoving itself into the stone to join Natasha's bullets.

The Draugur growled, "Am I going to have to take that away again?" It chastised Clint, its head turning tangible as it stepped out of the Obelisk's shadow, pointing at his quiver. Clint gripped the case tightly in response.

"What do you want, Draugur?" Natasha spat out, hand resting on the belt that held her cartridges.

The Draugur held its hands up in a peaceful gesture, "I just want to know where Doctor Banner is. Vlad and Loki said something about him losing control and I just want to help."

"Who's Vlad?" Clint stretched his arm back towards his arrows.

"He's a ghost – or a Draugur – whatever you want to call him, in league with that god-guy with the really bad helmet hair."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, "And how are we supposed to trust you, Hell-monster?"

The SHIELD spy noted the tightening of the Draugur's mouth, "You'll just have to, won't you? Do _you_ have any plans to stop Doctor Banner?"

"Tch," Natasha heard Clint mutter, resignedly lowering his hand from his arrows, "Last we saw, he was heading east, towards Rome."

"Barton!" Natasha sniped, refusing to turn her head, keeping the Draugur in her constant eyesight, "What are you _thinking_?"

"Got any better ideas?" Clint retorted, hefting his bow over his shoulder. He stared pointedly at the Draugur for a moment before breaking eye contact and turning away, continuing his trek down towards the Basilica.

Natasha pointed her empty gun at the Draugur's head threateningly, "Watch it." She threatened, before hurrying after Clint. Reaching his side she looked back, the creature was gone.

Turning around, she punched Clint in the arm, "You just let that… that… _thing_ go?" She cried.

Clint frowned at her, "Of course I did. If that Draugur could match Thor, there's no way we would've even had a chance."

"But what about Banner?"

Clint smirked darkly, "I haven't met anything yet that could take on _that guy_. I wouldn't be worried – it's a win-win for us."

Natasha eyebrows rose, "How so?"

"We get rid of a Helheim dweller along with all of Bruce's pent-up rage in one go. Easy solution."

"You still took a big risk just walking away from that Draugur unprotected." Natasha roughly grabbed the bullet cartridge at her hip, expertly loading her gun in example.

Clint shrugged, "SHIELD is about sacrifice for the greater good. I do what I can," Tilting his head at the Façade, Clint said, "Let's go."

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Steve dodged through an alleyway as a fruits kiosk flew by his head, crashing into a building with a splatter of juices.

Racing through the narrow juncture, Steve shoved himself past the large industrial bins, impulsively leaping over loose garbage bags littering his path in an effort to escape the colossal green figure trailing closely behind him.

A roar erupted from the entrance of the alleyway as the clatter of bricks smashing against the ground met his ears, edging frighteningly closer.

Racing out onto the open street, Steve took a sharp right, heading towards the Basilica. He had passed over the border between Vatican City and Italy five minutes ago and was desperate to push his way back over the line before any civilians' lives were risked. Steve couldn't help but curse at SHIELD, they were supposed to be surrounding the perimeter, yet Steve hadn't seen a single one.

A heavy thud made the war-veteran looked over his shoulder. Banner's creation was bounding towards him, swinging its arms like a gorilla, using its knuckles to gain speed. The ground rattled with each leap it took.

Steve pushed himself forward, ignoring the burn in his lungs. He was exhausted – there was no chance of escaping the fast-approaching beast, its eyes savage and unrecognisable.

The sunlight was quickly fading over the horizon as lights began to bleed from windows. Steve faltered as he attempted to twist in his steps away from the outskirts of Rome, halting to a stop as he attempted to strategize.

The footfalls were coming closer yet the captain stood strong, closing his eyes and focusing on the rattling breaths of the monster, estimating the length of its hurdles.

The deep grunts were almost upon him as Steve flung his shield out behind him, colliding with the Hulk's head and leaving a solid dint in the red, white and blue disk. Steve dashed out from underneath the creature's outstretched arms, which blinked stupidly in surprise, charging back to where Saint Peter's dome peeked out over the old storied structures of Vatican City.

A fierce cry pierced the air as the pounding returned with more vigour. Steve cursed himself for his idiotic move – the monster had recovered from its shock much faster than he had expected.

A green hand flicked into Steve's peripheral vision a second later, before quickly disappearing again with a whistle of wind and a resounding crash. Steve didn't stop, feeling shards of rock and asphalt spatter against his back, his adrenaline kicking in at the close call.

Rounding back into the alleyway, Steve didn't hesitate to jump on top of an industrial bin, hoisting himself over the lip of a building. Crouching low, Steve glanced behind himself in an attempt to gage how far he was from Banner's creation.

The streets were empty. Confused, Steve crawled over to the edge and peeked down to the road. A long stretch of the ground had a deep fractured imprint of the monsters body where it had apparently been hurled. Leaning further out over the lip, Steve listened with keen ears as dark growls emerged from the shadows on the other side of the street.

Steve ducked his head lower as the monster bowled out of the dark in an almost frantic manner, clawing at its back with its heavyset hands and an agitated look on its face. What in the world was it doing?

The monster seemed to have managed to grab hold of whatever it was clawing at, flinging it over its shoulder with a cry of triumph. A humanoid figure flew off the Hulk's back into a wall with a crack, shaking its white head.

Steve's eyes widened – it was the Draugur, 'Danny'. Clambered to its feet, the Draugur began to taunt the mutant further away from the city lights.

The captain gaped in amazement as Danny ducked out of the way of the charging beast, sending it smashing through a nearby wall. With a laugh, he skipped back out of range, closer to the Basilica. Jeering mutterings met Steve's ears as the Draugur flounced around in a seemingly carefree manner.

The behemoth pounded its way through the building next to Steve's hideout, its mouth curved into a vengeful sneer, before it once again charged at Danny. The spectre swooped away, speeding off towards Vatican City, the green beast following close behind.

Steve waited with baited breath as the last of the Hulk's cries died out with Danny's sardonic laughter. The quiet was chilling, except for the yowls of stray cats wandering the streets. Sighing in relief, Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaustion had kicked in to replace the fear-filled adrenaline.

Stretching his arms out in front of himself, Steve's eyes narrowed in thought. For a second, he could have sworn he'd seen Danny wink up at him as he flew past.

Pushing the thought back, Steve hurried off to find the others.

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Danny rolled to the side through the air as Banner's creation made another grab at him. The beast was right on his tail – literally. Danny could feel its large hands swiping at the end of his ghostly appendage, before his tail slipped out of its grip once more.

Danny grumbled to himself as he took a wide left, looping around the streets in a wide circle to minimise damage. Steve Rogers had better have been thankful for his intervention – the last thing Danny had ever hoped was to be on the receiving end of another one of Bruce's bad moods.

Slipping through another building and turning invisible, Danny raced to the parallel wall, hearing an eruptive boom follow shortly after, signifying the monster's unorthodox entrance. The halfa was at least glad to find that the small city had been evacuated.

Sliding out the brick wall on the other side, Danny groaned as the sound of propellers overhead. He had hoped too soon. Glancing up, he found a team of newscasting helicopters hovering above, cameras pointed out across the city at the damage he and Banner's mutant-self had left.

The Hulk burst out of the wall, bits of concrete flying out and hurtling through neighbouring windows as it leapt out onto the street, growling as it whirled around in search of him. Danny ducked low despite his invisibility.

Cheers erupted from the helicopters as they moved their way over to the beast, cameras swivelling to get the best view of the green beast.

Danny gasped as the Hulk's lip curled back in distaste, tearing an antique lamppost out of the ground and flinging it at a nearby chopper. The lamppost collided with the rotor of the Channel Ten autogyro, snapping it from its mast to send it careening down to the earth. Terrified screams emitted from the helicopters as Danny dove forward, becoming visible and ducking under the main cabin, squaring his shoulders. The chopper continued to fall from the sky at a slower pace, quavering unsteadily as Danny grasped at its smooth base desperately to keep it airborne.

Green met his vision before he was ripped away from the helicopter, sending it plummeting into an open-style café, glass-top tables shattered as iron-wrought chairs buckled under the weight. The helicopter screeched to a stop a short distance away, lying on its side.

Danny was shoved deep into the road, asphalt scraping through his skin-tight suit as he grunted in pain, the beast's enormous hands pinning his arms down to his sides as he struggled to free himself.

"Gyah! Lemme go!" Danny cried, the ache in his ribs flaring up in the Hulk's tight grip.

The creature bared its cinderblock molars, its rancid breath fluttering Danny's hair as it raised a fist—

A large metal plate collided with the closed hand, knocking the brute off balance and forcing it to release its grip on Danny. Rolling out from under the colossus, Danny didn't hesitate to rush over to the fallen helicopter, peering through the smashed glass into the cockpit. A pretty news-reporter stared back in shock, eyes wet. Her two companions knocked out cold on either side as they hung strapped to their seats.

Diving inside, Danny ignored the woman as she began to babble incessantly in Italian, unclipping the cameraman and pilot from their seats and carefully balancing them over each shoulder. Turning to the reporter, he awkwardly moved to unclip her from her seat when she slapped at his wrist with a sharp curse and shoved her phone in his face. Danny blinked uncomfortably as the woman began to bawl, still gibbering in her native language while trying to keep the mobile steady.

Moving slower for the woman to see, Danny released the hold of her harness, holding her steady as she regained her balance in her heels. Waiting patiently for her breath to even out slightly, Danny turned around, gesturing towards his back with a calming smile. The reporter nodded in response, her eyes slightly blank as she clambered onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he gripped behind her companion's knees.

Invisibility crawled over him and he heard the woman gasp in surprise, her phone angled next to his head. Ignoring the device, Danny pushed off, the woman gave a squeak of surprise, and soared out of the helicopter in the direction of Rome. The woman began to talk again, speaking loudly in his ear over the wind at the phone. Danny turned his head away from the noise, chalking up her odd behaviour to shock.

Flying over the perimeter of Rome, Danny landed, dropping to his knees to let the reporter climb off. The woman's legs let out from underneath as she fell to the ground, panting heavily with wide eyes. Danny gently placed the two men on the ground beside her and stood up straight. Turning, he found the woman watching him intently, weakly held her phone out at him. Confused, Danny smiled comfortingly at her, before hovering off the ground and zooming back towards Vatican City.

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Steve ducked behind the Maître d'hôtel's podium, his heart pounding loudly as he struggled for breath. He had lost his mask in his escape and his blond hair was falling into his eyes. Banner's monster was stalking agitatedly outside of the restaurant, searching for him with rabid want.

Lifting his shield with abject misery, Steve traced the indentations with his fingertips – the shield was close to snapping apart, thin cracks streaking the metal top, the paint having become dull and lifeless after the long battle against his friend.

Steve smacked his head back against the podium, the old wood felt sturdy and comforting behind his head as he felt his eyes flutter shut in exhaustion.

"You know, for an old guy you do some pretty stupid things."

Steve's eyes snapped open in shock. Danny sat only a few feet away, resting casually in a rustic oak patron's chair, a silvery glow becoming evident in the dying light.

"I-I'm sorry?" Steve spluttered out.

Danny shrugged, "Well, there's that saying that the older you get, the wiser you get, but I guess that doesn't work with cryogenics – the cold must kill off all your brain cells or something." He crossing his ankles on top the accompanying table, reclining back with a grin, "That was probably one of the dumbest things I had ever seen – not that it wasn't appreciated, of course!"

Steve opened and closed his mouth, gawping like a fish, "What are you doing here?" He hissed.

"Helping you, obviously. You didn't think I'd actually leave you alone with 'big, green and scary', did you?"

Steve didn't respond.

Danny rolled his eyes, taking his feet off the table top, "So, got a plan? 'Cos I'm fresh out."

Steve rubbed his forehead tiredly, whispering, "It would probably be best to lay low. I'd never had a chance against Banner, especially after everything that's happened. You might, though."

The Draugur scoffed, "No way could I go up to that thing, I'd die. Can you _imagine_ how much spinach that guy eats to turn that colour? Popeye's got nothing on Doctor B."

The veteran released his tensed shoulders at the Draugur's attempt at humour, relaxing into the wooden podium, "I thought you were supposed to be the bad guy?" He mumbled to himself.

Danny caught his words anyway, "So does everyone else apparently." Danny clucked his tongue, "You don't have to whisper, you know. The nine-foot ball of muscle is all the way up the other end of the street."

An awkward silence filled the restaurant as Steve floundered for what to say. Conversations were not his strongest point.

"So," Danny droned out, "Why'd you save me back there?"

Steve bit the inside of his cheek, "It was only fair," He admitted, "You saved me back at the border when it wasn't even your fight. The only way to repay my debt was to respond in the same way. A life for a…" Steve's brow furrowed, "Do you even really have a life?"

"Ouch." Danny's expression was one of hurt.

The Avenger fumbled with his shield, "Sorry, that was rude of me. I mean, it wasn't really your fault you ended up this way, right?"

Danny looked uneasy, "Can we not talk about this? I don't exactly feel comfortable talking about my—"

A sharp crack met Steve's ears as the wood and glass entrance blew off its hinges, a large shadow blocking the doorway. Steve scampered back, rolling out of the projectile's way as it struck the podium, "Whoa!"

Danny had shoved himself to his feet, brandishing his wooden chair in front of him as a weapon waiting as Steve hurried to stand beside him.

The beast was hunched over due to the low ceilings, dust falling around its head as it rammed itself into a rafter. It snuffled as it shook its head violently to remove the floating particles, its chest rumbling in agitation.

"Got a plan, Captain?" Danny asked, his skin giving off an unearthly glow in the night, like a beacon.

"Not yet, I need more time to think."

Danny lifted the chair higher, mouth pulled taut, "My plan then."

Steve raised his eyebrows, "And what's that?"

"Dunno. I don't have one. Just go for it, I guess." Danny replied, turning to charge at Banner's other half.

Swinging his chair wildly, Danny forced it down on the behemoth's skull, which broke apart with a clatter. Danny backed slowly up to Steve's side again as the beast glared, unharmed, "Well, I'm out of ideas." He admitted.

The Hulk lunged at Danny, who let out a sharp bark in shock and dodged to the side, tripping over a tablecloth and sending a vase smashing to the floor in a mixture of porcelain and water. Rolling over to his back, Danny fired a green blast from his palm, hitting the monster in the jaw and sending its head reeling back to smack against another rafter. The beam split under the force. Steve watched the movement intently.

"Captain! A little help, please!" Danny called, sending another blast at the monster, missing as it made a wide swipe at the Draugur, forcing him to jump back at the last minute. The blast left a reasonable-sized hole in the ceiling.

Steve's eyes widened in realisation, "Danny! Shoot the restaurant down!"

Danny teetered from on top of a dining table skirting blows, "_That's_ your plan? Have the place crush us all? Nice plan, genius! The army must have been really desperate to appoint you captain!"

Steve ignored the jibe, "Just do it!" Running through to the back of the restaurant, Steve headed for the kitchens. Shunting past the panel door, he raced to the nearest cupboards frantically for something to use to help Danny, pulling out ingredients and cleaning products. The walls and floor shuddered as the obnoxious sounds of smashing glass and cracking wood echoed from the other room, making Steve almost toppled over in his search. Yanking open a final cupboard – tearing the doors off their hinges in his haste – Steve smirked before pulled out the single metal cylinder.

Dragging the heavy tank through the swinging kitchen door, wary of the green beast, Steve called out, "You alright, Danny?"

A muffled cry was the response as the structure rattled. Steve could detect the distinct smell of burning wood as more rafters were blasted. Dragging the gas tank out, the captain watched as the ceiling began to sag dangerously, most of the support beams destroyed, flames licking at its fuel source hungrily. The Hulk, whom had been thrown back by one of Danny's blasts, had sat up and was pounding at the ground angrily, spittle rained from its open mouth as it attempted to free a frozen leg. Danny was on the other side of the room, lying down in a bed of glass and brickwork, eyes unfocussed, covered in cuts and bruises.

Grabbing the semi-conscious Draugur by the front of his black and white outfit, Steve rushed out the destroyed doorway into the dark, Danny stumbling behind.

Hurrying to the other side of the street, Steve turned to Danny, "Shoot it now!"

Danny blinked slowly at him, "What?" He asked stupidly.

"Shoot the building! It's already unstable!"

Raising a weak hand, Danny scrunched his face up, fabricating a ball of green energy up in his palm. Heavy thumping could be heard from the restaurant as the Hulk continued to attempt to free itself.

"_Do it now_!" Steve cried in the Draugur's ear.

Danny jumped at the proximity of Steve's voice, blasting the energy ball at the building. It sped through the destroyed wall before being swallowed in darkness. Steve couldn't breathe in the quiet of the night.

A deafening crack broke the silence, the brick walls curving unnaturally until they were no longer able to support their own weight. The building caved in, tumbling down into itself, when a large petroleum-filled fireball burst out of the center, throwing stray pieces of burning wood and stone at the duo.

Steve and Danny ducked to the side, hobbling further down the street away from the burning restaurant. Both of them were panting as they seated themselves on the ground.

"I think," Steve grinned, his chest heaving, "That did it. Not one of my most brilliant plans I admit, but it did the job."

"Ugh." Danny replied, looking faint.

"Hey, are you okay?" Steve extended a hand out to the Draugur worriedly.

Danny didn't respond, instead collapsing on his side with a low moan.

"Hey, Danny!" Steve called out, shaking the Draugur's shoulder, "Come on, get up!"

A white glow emitted from Danny's center as Steve flinched back in surprise, dragging himself away from the fallen body. Rings formed around the Draugur's waist, spreading across the rest of his body. Steve covered his eyes at the blinding flash, lowering his arms slowly as it died away, leaving only the cheery glow of the smouldering restaurant as his light source.

Crawling over to Danny's side, Steve hesitantly rolled the beaten Draugur onto his back and gasped.

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I am so sorry this took so much longer to update. I have officially finished school, but I have damaged my hands, making it extremely difficult to type for long periods of time and blah blah blah, excuses, excuses.

On the bright side, I am very excited to announce that I have reached over 500 reviews today! Along with over 300 favourites! Yay! I am so unbelievably happy! I did not expect such a big turnout with this story and I'm so glad you're all enjoying it enough to favourite or follow it. Amazing.

Also thanks to all my reviewers who put in an effort to write a couple of words or offer their help. It is very thoughtful of you all and I love reading your comments.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's the longest I've ever written and was extremely difficult, so I'm sorry if it lags too slow for your taste.

I'm hopeful that I will see you all next chapter and don't forget to review (it feeds my incentive)!


	26. Chases

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Steve blinked stupidly, watching the slow rise and fall of the black-haired youth's chest as he slumbered. Collapsing backwards, his shield resting by his side, Steve sat in shock as the embers of the fire sputtered half-heartedly from under the collapsed building, the dim glow baring the dark bruises hidden by the boy's black and white suit.

Stretching a leg out, Steve tapped the boy in the ribs, who groaned in response, rolling over onto his side as he tiredly creaked an eye open.

"What?"

Steve quickly drew his leg back, his eyes widening further.

"Y-you—"

Steve saw the Draugur frown slightly in the orange light, the deep shadows flittered across his creased brow, "I don't look that bad, do I? You look like you've seen a ghost." He wheezed a laugh.

The veteran shook his head, the words caught in his throat. Coughing roughly, Steve gestured towards Danny with a nod of his head.

Craning his head down, Steve watched as Danny awkwardly grasped at the torn shreds of the SHIELD uniform, his eyes unfocused as they stared confusedly at the suit.

Danny jolted up, understanding dawning across his beaten face as he scrambled back out of the captain's reach, wincing with his movements. Crawling back to the opposite wall of the alley, Danny's back thumped heavily against it, sending a shudder racking through his body, his white teeth visibly gritted.

The two stared at each other, the silence progressively becoming heavier.

Steve found his voice, "S-so you're a…"

"Yeah." Danny admitted reluctantly.

Steve licked his chapped lips nervously, "But y-you're also a…"

The Draugur propped himself up comfortably against the wall, "Yep."

"A-and you can…?" The time-traveller motioned at Danny.

"I guess." The boy shrugged.

Steve paused before frowning, "But you're not…"

"Wha—? No way!" Danny wrinkled his nose, disgruntled.

"And you're not going to…"

Danny shook his head fervently.

Leaning back into the bricks behind him, Steve stared at Danny with bewilderment as the boy bit his lip, eyes darting between the destroyed restaurant and back.

"Uh… You're not going to tell anyone this, are you?" Danny asked hesitantly, refusing to look at the older man.

Steve stared blankly, "What? Oh, I guess not," Rubbing the back of his neck, he continued, "So what _are_ you exactly?"

The dark-haired boy shrugged, "Most ghosts call me a halfa."

Another silence cloaked the two in the dim light. Steve watched as Danny frowned, his eyes hooded by shadows. He looked older than his years, which left Steve to wonder how old the 'halfa' actually was.

A groan reached the duo's ears as both of their heads swivelling to the smouldering restaurant reflexively. The melancholic mood dissapating in a rush as Steve hopped to his feet, leaving Danny by the wall and dashing over to the collapsed rafters and broken terracotta tiles, "Bruce!"

Bruce coughed and groaned again as Steve leapt over splintered planks of wood and crumbling brick, reaching the source where the voice emerged from. Stamping out a weakly burning fire nearby, the time-traveller heaved an aged beam out of the way as he began to dig Bruce out of the rubble.

Peering into the narrow escape, Steve found a dust-covered Bruce Banner staring back, his hair ruffled and grey with dirt and his clothing in rags. Steve smiled in relief, extending an arm down into the hole, grasping the doctor's wrist and easily hauled him up.

Crawling out of the wreckage, Bruce feebly attempted to brushed himself off as he cleared his throat, his eyes travelling up and down the streets.

"Was it bad?" Bruce asked, his voice small.

"It could have been worse."

Bruce left it at that, inspecting a laceration on his arm half-heartedly. Steve peered through the deep shadows in search of Danny, only to find him gone.

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Thor glared at the gaping hole in the ceiling of the Basilica where the undead dragon and its cronies had escaped, dissapearing with little more than a refraction of light and a howl of revenge.

Dropping Mjölnir with a heavy thunk onto the crushed marble, Thor cracked his neck, feeling slightly disparaged at the less than climatic end to the fight.

A whirring sound closed in on him before the sound of scraping metal reached his ears. Turning, Thor found a mirthless Tony Stark staring back, his suit blackened with soot and sparks shooting from its joints sporadically.

"Well, that didn't exactly go to plan, now did it?" Tony's glanced around the destroyed Basilica.

Thor grunted, looking curiously at a half-crushed face of a saint, "Where is the man-child that came with you?"

"Er, who?" Tony asked distractedly, pulling off his helmet and poking at it with an expression of bereavement.

Crunching footsteps reached Thor and Tony, "He means that intern you kicked out of the plane, Stark." Natasha answered sullenly, her uniform covered in dust and her hair in disarray.

Clint was only steps behind her, both his appearance and disposition matching his partner's.

Tony clicked his tongue in recognition, cheerily spinning on his heel, "Yo, Dan-Dan!" He called out boisterously.

Tony's voice echoed off the walls of the Basilica, dying away in the emptiness, leaving only the sound of the Avengers' heaving breaths.

"_Danny?_" Tony called out louder. Thor watched as the Ironman's brow became creased, his posture becoming rigid the longer the silence lingered.

A squeaky voice emmitted from Natasha's ear. Raising a hand and cupping the side of her head, she mumbled something in response before lowering her hand.

"The director wants us to head back to base," She announced to the group, "The Blackhawk's waiting less than a miles from here. Rogers and Banner are there waiting for us. Fury says its urgent."

Clint nodded, "Good to know that the big guy came to."

Thor frowned, aggitated at their lack of worry for the human child, "So we are just going to leave this 'intern' of Stark's behind?"

"My best guess is that he ran the moment his feet touched the ground." Clint joked, hefting his quiver up over his shoulder.

"Or he's dead." Natasha ran a hand through her unkempt hair.

Tony Stark's face scrunched up, "He's not a _coward_ like SHIELD – and he's not weak either." He exclaimed hotly.

Natasha turned her nose up as Clint glowered at the multi-billionaire.

"Let's just go. We have more important things to do." The archer grunted, twisting away from the group and heading towards the main doors.

Tony shifted from foot to foot, craning his neck to look over piles of crushed stone and wood, "I guess." He relented with a sigh.

"Did you have need of any assistance in finding your intern, my friend?" Thor asked.

Tony's smirk was tighter than the usual one he wore, "Nah, that's okay. He's hard to find when he doesn't want to be found. I'm sure he's fine."

Thor shrugged, "If you believe that is best." He said, picking up Mjölnir. Casting one final glance at the bleakly smiling Tony, Thor headed down the nave after his two SHIELD companions.

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Danny dragged himself further into the shadows of the terracotta-topped buildings, panting as he forced himself closer to the border of Rome.

Blindly groping, Danny stretched for a handgrip, misjudging his steps in the faint glow of moonlight as he tripped, stumbling down a short stairway and collapsing at it base on his knees with a crack and a yelp.

Groaning forlornly, Danny slumped onto the ground, too tired to move as the night settled around him, the moon a sliver in the vast sky. Rolling on his back, Danny carelessly gazed at the stars, watching as they flickered in the silent night, their radiance bright without any other light to smother them.

Danny sighed tiredly, too beaten and sore to make any effort to move. The tiny points of light were slowly lulling him into unconsciousness as his eyelids fluttered, the want for sleep overcoming him.

A faint whirring met Danny's ears as he began to sink further into oblivion, becoming progressively louder. Curling into himself, Danny attempted to ignore the annoying noise as it crept closer, drilling into his mind and making it impossible for him to achieve any form of rest.

The thrumming sound was incessant, forcing Danny to squint his eyes open at the star-lit sky above spitefully. Nothing was out of place in the cool night air, leaving Danny to blink confusedly.

Pushing himself into a seated position as the whirring beared down on him, Danny searched around wildly into the pitch black, forcing himself to focus on where the sound was emerging from, all need for sleep lost under the possible threat of danger. The sound seemed strangely familiar, yet the halfa could not put his finger on where he'd heard it.

Widening his eyes in recognition, the halfa whipped his head up, staring at the glinting sky with a frown. A dark shadow passed over his line of sight, the black outline of a helicopter flew over his head as the rotor continued to beat its course loudly through the night air, a small red light blinking conventionally, marking its trail out of Vatican City.

Shoving himself to his feet, Danny chased after the helicopter, adrenaline pulsing through him as he pushed himself to transform. The white rings struggled across his body as he tripped over loose cobblestones, the light flittering hopelessly, before finally relenting to consumed Danny as he kicked off the ground, his legs morphing into one in his hurry to follow the armoured chopper.

Racing above the buildings, Danny began to feel sweat form on his brow as he struggled to keep his stability, wobbling with the effort to maintain his transformation. Flying after the helicopter, the half-ghost felt his eyes watering as the wind whipped furiously into them, his stark-white hair pulled back off his face. Reaching a hand out, Danny grappled at the air, frantically reaching for one of the landing wheels barely visible above his head, his fingertips glancing over the cold metal and rubber.

Stretching out again, Danny felt his fingers slide across the axle, grasping at the rod desperately as his body dragging behind him under the pressure of the air current, his shoulder colliding uncomfortably with the helicopter's tail boom.

Danny's other hand clasped the axle as he hauled himself forward, fumbling in the dark as he dragged a leg up over the thick camouflaged plates covering the body of the chopper to straddle the tail. His palms slithering across the smooth metal armour as he felt himself slip down the length, the combating wind from the main and tail rotor leaving the halfa panting under the strain to press forward, as he dragged his body up the length of the helicopter.

Clinging to any handholds he could find, Danny yanked himself closer to the cabin. The young half-ghost's throat was parched from the dry wind being forced down his throat as he struggled to keep his eyes open under the violent winds.

Stretching out again hopelessly, Danny's hand collided with glass, his sweating hand creating suction against the cool glass. Danny smiled wearily as his other hand joined its partner to grip the lip of the window, his feet finding hold on a gun platform as he shuffled his way across, the windows blacked-out with a reflective sheen.

Gathering his balance, the halfa pressed against the glass with a shaky hand, his fingertips struggling to slide through the mirrored material. With a mournful groan, Danny pulled his arm out, recognising that his adrenaline had mostly dissipated long ago as he drew back, unable the merge through to the interior of the helicopter in his state of exhaustion.

Danny jumped back in surprise as the door panel was swept back, leaving Danny to teeter off the edge of the platform before he dropped to his sore knees, grasping at the curved painted plate as panic welled up inside of him.

Glancing up, Danny felt himself choke on his dry tongue as the moon glinted off sturdy silver chain-mail, a red cape billowing behind, painted a deep purple by the night, before a dangerously familiar hammer filled his vision.

Thor towered over Danny as he struggled for balance, "_You_." The god growled.

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Might I just start this off with an apology. I really am sorry I left this so long while you have all been so womderful to me. However, I haven't been really been allowed near a computer for a really long time because of a heap of damage I've done to my hands – making me incapable of typing or writing or anything at all.

I promise you all that this story will be completed. I absolutely abhor writers who start a really good story and ditch it to write another part-way through. I like to take my stories one at a time and I really don't want to leave this one incomplete. I'm having too much fun with it!

Also sorry it's so short, I wanted to finish it before the new year. Bring on 2013 and I will see you soon!

Don't forget to review because they make me so incredibly happy!

And thank you 'The Phantom Assassin' for pointing out my spelling errors - my auto-correct is broken so I'm reviewing all my spelling and grammar by plain eye. Cheers!


	27. Aquisitions

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Danny felt his fingers sliding off the smooth metal of the Blackhawk as he tried to dodge the demi-god's hammer, his body pressed tightly against the cold and damaged sheeting of the helicopter. He flinched as Thor swung again, the armoured wall crumpling under the Asgardian's brutal force as Danny hopped over to the edge of the gun-platform, one foot dangling in the air.

Digging his blunt nails into a ridge between the damaged plating, Danny shoved a foot into one of the destroyed panels, hauling himself up to clamber on top of the chopper out of Thor's reach. Groping for another ridge to cling to, Danny suddenly felt a fist grasp his ankle, yanking him back down onto the platform. Landing roughly on his hands and knees, Danny ducked low reflexively, feeling a surge of air rush over his head as Thor's weapon piercing through the wall of the war-machine with an aggravated boom.

Thor's booted foot met Danny's hand in retaliation with a yelp of pain, almost forcing the half-ghost to relinquish his hold of the platform to cradle his captured and bruised phalanges. Blood flowed into the appendages as they began to painfully throb from under the blond-haired man's heavy steel sole, making it difficult for Danny to pull his hand out without a sharp convulsion of pain running throughout it.

Tugging at the captured hand while weakly beating at Thor's metal-encased foot, Danny glanced up to find the god's exulting face leering down at him, his hammer hefted above his head in preparation for the final blow. Danny frantically began shoving at the boot again, his breath coming in heavy bursts as he attempted to summon his powers, only to find himself completely drained. Gritting his teeth and slamming his eyes shut, Danny continued to push desperately against Thor's foot, refusing to give in.

With a final burst of adrenaline, Danny drove the heel of his hand into the side of the boot, only to meet with air. The lack of combating force sent the halfa sliding across the narrow gun-platform to land on top of his bruised hand with a groan.

Lying on the station, Danny cracked an eye open with a wince, before he felt them widen in disbelief. The raging and hostile Asgardian prince was being forcefully dragged away by Steve Rogers, who held the god in a combative grapple-hold, compelling Thor to withdraw from his attack on the half-ghost.

Blinking in surprise, Danny squeaked as he was yanked by the neck of his jumpsuit, sending him tumbling into the helicopter's cabin to collapsed across the floor, automatically cradling his damaged hand to his chest. He could hear Thor snarling vehement threats from the other side of the Blackhawk, along with the two SHIELD operatives disbelieved cries. Their voices pounded into Danny's head, but he couldn't find the energy to care.

A whisper pulled Danny from his fatigue, "You alright there, Dan-Dan?"

Rolling his head to the side, Danny glared up to find a casually dressed Tony Stark crouching next to him, clapping imaginary dust off his hands, his face still holding traces of soot from his battle in the Basilica.

Danny rolled his eyes at the Ironman and groaned, "Why do they always give the big scary weapons to the guys with the anger issues?" He rasped tiredly.

"Don't worry. If Thor hangs around earth long enough, we're gonna sign him up for a class or two," Tony chuckled softly, "He'll be there right alongside Bruce in 'Anger Management 101'."

Ruffling the younger boy's white hair, Tony continued, his expression losing its cheekiness, "It's good to see you're okay, kid."

Danny frowned slightly at the name, before giving in to his prolonged exhaustion and slipping into unconsciousness.

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Steve struggled to keep his hold on Thor, who writhed furiously under his grapple-lock near the back of the cabin. Clenching his teeth together in case Thor decided to throw back his head and make the super-soldier bite off his tongue, Steve watched as Tony stationed himself between Natasha and Clint's line of fire as they screamed furiously from their seats in the cockpit at him and Tony, while Bruce was trying – and failing – to calm the situation down.

Natasha waved her handgun around, trying to get a clean shot at the unconscious ghost that Tony hovered over. Noting the wild look in the woman's eye he had seen in many a reckless soldier, eager to take the first shot, Steve hauled Thor's heavy red cape over his head, obscuring the god's vision as he grabbed a nearby medical pack, hurling it at the assassin's hands and causing her to drop the gun, which flew out of the open helicopter cabin, down into the Mediterranean sea. Steve's ears burnt from the coarse language that spilt from the woman's mouth as he grabbed back onto the still-blinded Thor.

Feeling a presence next to him, Steve found that Tony had left the metamorphic ghost's side, coming to stand next to him, hands held up defensively as Clint brandished his unarmed bow at the inventor from his strapped pilot's seat, his voice cracking in anger. Steve wasn't able to catch the inventor's retort over the SHIELD agents' squabbling and Thor's thunderous belligerence from under his cape.

Tony made another attempt to be heard, his voice rising along with Bruce's, only to meld into the raging hum of unrecognisable voices. Steve resisted the urge to join them, instead focusing on containing the still struggling mass of Asgardian muscle that seemed intent on ripping out the poor un-dead teenager's throat, whether he could see him or not.

Steve grunted as Thor violently twitched in his grip, "Stop _struggling_!" He called out angrily, readjusting his hold. He was left unheard, however, as the heated argument rose to new decimals. A flicker of light caught his eye as he glanced over Thor's broad shoulder. Steve cringed as he watched a bright light emitting from Danny stomach, the strange white rings he recognised from their encounter in Vatican City struggled over his body, travelling up to his clavicle, baring the SHIELD insignia on his upper arm before relenting, slithering back down across the boy's torso, and dissipating in another flash of white, leaving Danny in his original ghostly state.

Steve gave a sigh of relief, turning his head back to catch the SHIELD operatives' wide-eyed stares as they weakly tugged at the safety belts wrapped around them.

"What? That uniform…" Natasha stuttered off, her eyes not leaving Danny's prone form. Clint's eyes narrowed, but the archer stayed silent.

Steve's attention was diverted as Thor swung a muscular arm out, his giant hammer almost hitting him in the shoulder.

"Release me, piteous mortal!" Thor strained, attempting to once again rip himself out of Steve's defensive lock, snarling from under his the thick and heavy cloth.

The time-traveller groaned in pain as a wayward elbow collided with his cheekbone, forcing him to loosen his hold and stumble into a stressed Bruce Banner, who overbalanced under the additional weight and buckled back into one of the seats with an "_Oomph!_" Steve tactlessly collapsed at the smaller man's feet.

Shaking his head and rubbing his cheek, Steve heard Bruce cry out, _"No!"_

Steve watched in horror as Thor leapt at Danny, ramming a surprised Tony into the cockpit in the process. The inventor crashed into Clint's pilot seat and slide to the ground winded, making the SHIELD agent jerk the cyclic stick roughly to the side as he was unintentionally shoved. The helicopter fell into a steep decline as the Avengers yelped and squeaked in shock. Steve felt a moment of weightlessness before gravity took hold, rolling him across the helicopter's length to ram into the back of an imbalanced Thor's knees, knocking the Asgardian off his feet to on top of the dishevelled Steve.

Silence ran through the interior of the chopper as Clint managed to level the Blackhawk. Steve from his spot under Thor's mass panted heavily, shoving the god off of him and away from Danny. Thor growled from under his – once again – upturned cape.

Steve allowed himself to chuckle along with Tony at the sight, sitting up straight to cup his cheek before a sharp click registered in his mind. Twisting his torso around, the ex-soldier had no time to react as Natasha Romanoff's foot rammed itself into his jaw, sending Steve reeling back in a state of shock and pain.

"What do you think you're doing, Romanoff?" Steve heard Tony call out angrily from his spot on the floor.

"Getting answers." Natasha grunted in response.

Steve heard Bruce's light footsteps rush past him, "Wait, stop! You can't hurt him!"

Resting himself on one elbow while using the other arm to cradle his throbbing face, Steve cringed at the sight of the assassin straddling the unconscious ghost, his arms pinned to his sides by her muscular thighs, efficiently immobilizing the unconscious teenager. A glimmer of light caught his eye in the dark night near Danny's neck, where Natasha held a large sharp blade to his jugular.

Thor poked out from under the red cloth, "_I _wanted the honour of tearing the Hel-creature's head off." He muttered childishly.

Holding an arm out in a placating manner, Steve spoke low to the agent, "Lower the knife, Miss Romanoff, we don't want anyone to get hurt."

Natasha laughed darkly, fisting Danny's hair and pulling his head back to bare his throat, "Not until you tell the rest of us what's going on. If you three," She glared sharply at him, along with Tony and Bruce, "Know something about the Draugur that the rest of us don't, I recommend you start talking before I force-feed this zombie its own brains."

Steve chewed his lip worriedly, staring at the younger boy's face, which was lax in his sleep, before relenting with a sigh, "Fine, Danny is—"

"Our only link to Loki!" Bruce cut in, wringing his wrists habitually as he hovered nearby.

Steve frowned, confused, "Wha—"

"Yes," Tony exclaimed, hefting himself up from his spot on the cockpit's floor and cautiously made his way over to Natasha, quickly snatching the hunting knife out of her grip and making her scowl up at him, "Without the Draugur, we won't have any idea what Loki's plan is. At least with the big guy we'll have some clue where to start."

Thor towered over the halfa as he sneered down, "Very well, we shall use the death-bringer to our advantage. And afterwards, we destroy it along with all the others."

Silence permeated the Blackhawk as Clint flew it ever-closer towards the Helicarrier.

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Danny hissed as he slo wly regained consciousness. His whole body ached terribly, particularly his hand.

Too exhausted and sore to move, Danny simply laid still, letting the silence sweep over him like a security blanket, his brain throbbing painfully as glimpses of images flashed by – too quick for him to catch, fluttering out of his mind into the void of the forgotten. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly, feeling the pressure in his head disappear the further he relaxed into himself. The quiet resounded throughout the room, a silent song that lulled him into a sense of tranquillity, drawing him further into the darkness. A flicker of a memory burst to the forefront of his mind, breaking him out of his peaceful reverie.

Danny's eyes flew open with a start as he gasped, only to slam shut just as quickly under the fluorescent glare of the ceiling lights. Groaning, the half-ghost rolled onto his side, his bones creaking under the strain – Danny heard more than one vertebrae pop.

Footsteps echoed in his head, coming closer, matching the dull thudding in his skull. Hesitantly peeking an eye open, he frowned as a pair of black-clad boots swam in his vision, a leather coat flittering by the ankles. Raising his gaze, Danny growled at the sight of the director who stood boldly on the other side of a pane of glass, his single eye staring down at him apathetically.

"Nice to see you're awake, Draugur."

"_Tch,_" Danny said intelligently. Pushing himself up onto his elbows, the halfa glanced around at his surroundings. He was in the containment chamber again.

Nick Fury continued, ignoring the ghost to prod expertly at the buttons on the chamber's control system, "You have caused us a lot of trouble than you're worth, beast. Knocking out our surveillance system, commanding the break-in and stealing the sceptre. You have been working much closer to Loki than I had originally thought."

Surveillance system? What break-in? "I don't know what you're talking about." Danny gritted out.

"There is no point in lying, Draugur. Your henchmen are not as loyal as you would like to believe. Mutiny appears to run strong through your breed." Fury spat out, his voice vehement despite his cool expression.

A snarl flew from the halfa's throat as he pushed himself onto unsteady feet, stumbling towards the scarred man, falling just short of the glass, encasing Fury in his much larger shadow, "Look, dude, I have no idea what you're saying! So before you start throwing accusations in my face, how 'bout you tell me what's going on!"

The threatening sound of numerous gun safeties being unlatched made Danny pause as Fury's hand hovered threateningly over a large dial. Biting on the inside of his mouth, Danny reluctantly took a step away from the glass where he glared around the room, trying to catch sight of the hidden SHIELD agents under the bright and disorienting lights of his prison.

Fury smirked at Danny, "I'd recommend cooperating with us, Draugur, if you don't want to end up as target practise."

Danny blinked, "Was that an attempt at humour? Because if it was—"

He was cut off as a loud banging echoed through the room, diverting his attention. The doors swept open with a swipe of one of the agent's key-card to reveal a frazzled Maria Hill, her posture ramrod-straight despite her obvious hurry.

"Sir, the Avengers are on their way to speak with you now." She announced, her breath short as she strode over next to her first-in-command.

Fury's mouth turned down at the corners, "Why didn't you let yourself in, Hill? Where is your override card?"

"It appears that I have misplaced it, sir." Maria bowed her head, her hair slipping out of her slick ponytail.

Danny bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from chuckling at her 'forgetfulness'.

"Very well. Make sure you terminate the key-card as soon as possible and double security measures to the labs. We don't want anything of valuable worth falling into the wrong hands."

Darn it. Oh well, Tucker already had a copy of all their files anyway.

"But sir, what about the Avengers?" Maria glanced nervously in the halfa's direction, her voice softening to a whisper. Danny almost snickered, he was more than capable of hearing anything with his sensitive hearing.

"Let them in," Fury didn't bother to lower his own voice, pinning Danny with a glare, "It will be better to have them here to help interrogate the Draugur anyway." Fury admitted, making Danny scoff, crossing his arms indignantly.

Familiar voices were quickly carrying themselves through the open doorway, only too soon revealing the heretical team that the public so proudly called the Avengers. Danny felt his lip curl at the sight of the towering mass of blond hair that sneered at him through the glass.

His gaze slowly turned to the rest of the team, skipping over a nonchalant Tony Stark and a worried Steve Rogers, past a nervous Bruce Banner and a stone-faced Clint Barton, to land on the short stature of Natasha Romanoff, whom was staring at him with large, unblinking blue eyes, following his every movement.

Shifting on the spot uncomfortably, Danny watched as Maria Hill directed the hidden agents out of the room. The half-ghost distractedly felt the hairs raised on the back of his neck as a shiver ran down his spine – the feeling of being watched hovered over him like a foreboding cloud. Glancing at the Avengers, he found the ex-assassin's laser-stare still resting on him, her eyes now narrowed into slits. Danny had the perverse feeling he was being judged.

The heavy metal entrance door slid close with a hiss as Fury strode towards the control board again, "It appears, gentlemen and Miss Romanoff, that we have once again fallen to one of Loki's plans."

"I'll say," Tony jeered, "I'm guessing the new renovations were not planned then? Oh, and nice job by the way with the border security. You guys were a huge help out there. All zero of you."

"Our priorities had changed accordingly, given the circumstances." Fury levelled a glare at the confused Danny.

Danny moaned tiredly, "Are we on this _again? _Look, how many times do I have to tell you I don't know—"

"What happened exactly, sir?" Steve stepped forward, his military habits coming to play, his boots clicking together as he stood to attention.

"The Draugurs have taken Loki's sceptre."

"What?" Thor shunted Steve out of the way, bounding over to the eye-patched man to yank him up by his lapels. Danny silently cheered, "I thought we agreed that the humans would destroy the cursed thing! You promised to throw it into the deepest of oceans yourself if you had to!"

Fury shoved the god's hands off him, "It is not that simple I'm afraid, Thor. The amount of verifications and research needed to deem it harmless towards both humans and the earth's other inhabitants is farbeyond throwing it away in the garbage. Certain protocols are necessary in situations like these—"

Thor blatantly disregarded the SHIELD director's weak argument, stalking his way up to Danny's cell to slam his heavy hands against it. The thick glass rattled at the impact.

"Tell us what you know." Thor panted, the glass fogging up to obscure his face.

Danny grimaced, "Tell you about what? I'm just as clueless as the rest of you guys about what's going on."

Thor's expression became wild, "_Tell us now, you freak!"_

Danny glowered at the name, "That's it."

Storming over to where the god stood, Danny shoved his intangible hands through the thick glass pane, too focused on Thor to notice the sharp, violent burst of electricity that crackled up his arm, making his gritted teeth tingle furiously. Latching on to the neck of his cape, Danny dragged the off-guard Thor through the barrier, who hissed at the intense electric shock that passed through his intangible form.

Hurling the god across the length of the cage, Danny smirked hauntingly as Thor rolled to a stop barely inches away from the glass wall, a thin layer of smoke rising from his body.

Danny cracked his own smoking hands threateningly, "You wanted to go me, Mister High-and-Mighty? Let's go, one-on-one – no interferences from your Avenger buddies either. "

Thor slowly got to his feet, his eyes crackling with almost childlike glee, "Very well demon. I accept your challenge. When this is over, not even Hel herself will want to consider you as one of her spawn."

Danny scoffed, his energy sliding down his arm like ice water, the skin beginning to glow green as the power circulated in his palm, "Please, I'll have you crying for your big scary daddy for a bedtime story by the time I'm done with you."

Thor lunged at Danny, catching the halfa off-guard as he was tackled around the waist. Danny visibly winced on impact with the chamber, the wall sparking an array of lights where his back collided. Thor quickly released his grip on the teenager, stumbling away as he shook his hands vigorously with a hiss. The skin that had touched both the glass and Danny was a fiery red. Shiny, blistering welts were forming across Thor's knuckles as he nursed them.

The half-ghost gave the god no time to recover. Despite being sore, he felt rejuvenated from his sleep and raced towards Thor, dodging a wayward fist to kick a leg out. His white boot met Thor's sternum at full-force, sending him tumbling back in Fury's direction by the control panel.

Danny waited to hear the imminent shattering of glass, only to frown, confused, as the older man simply fell out of the cell, landing roughly on the ground by a surprised Bruce's feet.

By the time Danny had recognised his chance of escape, Fury had already raised the walls back up to their stations, leaving him trapped inside.

"Now is not the time for petty feuds, Thor." Danny heard Fury say as he raised a tentative hand towards the glass, only to quickly draw it back as a sharp spark flew towards him. Danny grumbled moodily.

"I don't know, I was sort of enjoying it. Saves me from having to buy tickets for the UFC." Danny watched Tony rock back and forth on his heels, his face smooth of the worry lines he had last seen creasing the man's brow.

Thor grunted belligerently as he stood, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Now," Fury continued as if he wasn't interrupted, "Is the time for action. Loki may have the sceptre, but we have the Phantom."

Danny paused at this, his focus pulled away from the electric wall, "Hey! How do you know my name? I never told you that!"

Fury spoke tiredly, clasping his hands behind his back as he paced along the length of the glass, "Over two years ago, it came to the American government's attention that a large abundance of unregistered life-forms was inhabiting the state of Illinois. However, as they were deemed to be of a low threat towards humans in comparison to other extra-terrestrial creatures at the time," Fury shot Thor a look with his single eye, "the GIW was sent instead of SHIELD for the purgation process."

"Purgation? They were sent to knock us off?"

"Once the government had had a chance to capture and study you, most likely yes." The director stated factually before continuing his monologue, "That plan of action changed, however, when we were introduced to the Asgardians. Our analysts invested much time studying old Nordic folklore and sharpening the lines between fact and fiction after Thor disappeared again," Fury's coat snapped as he came to a halt in front of Danny, his hands still clasped behind his back, "One of those stories was of the 'Draugurs'. Ungodly beings of terror that stormed through archaic times and thrived on obsession, only to suddenly disappear from history just as quickly as they came."

The director's single black eye reminded Danny of wet tar, as he felt himself sink deeper into the repulsive mess that was Nick Fury's mind, "Due to the GIW's incompetence, the existence of these 'ghosts' – or more correctly, 'Draugurs' – were once again brought to SHIELD's attention. Banished to another dimension, they had somehow been able to escape, despite their nature now being far more docile than their reputation had preceded.

"SHIELD dispatched numerous undercover agents to study them, and you, Danny Phantom, stood out as the most dangerous – particularly after the incident with Pariah Dark."

"Well this never came up in the files, did they, Brucey?" Tony nudged Bruce in the side, "Now why would that be? Why put such a strong security measure over something like that? I bet your string-puppets didn't even know about that." He nodded at the baffled SHIELD agents as they gaped at their commander.

"Because we're a weapon to them," Danny stated, his teeth grinding together hard enough to squeak while his hands balled up into fists by his side, "SHIELD was gonna use the sceptre to control the ghosts to defend the planet from anyone who threatened it – against the Avengers initiative even. Helmet-hair dude just beat them to it."

Fury's dark eye swivelled back on Danny, "That information is highly classified, how did you gain access to it?"

"The same way I found out about PROJECT: _FriendlyFire_." Danny grinned toothily at the director, yet his eyes were void of amusement.

"PROJECT: _FriendlyFire_? What's that?" Steve asked cautiously.

"It is none of your concern, soldier." Fury finished. Leaning over to the panel, he twisted the large dial he had threatened Danny with earlier. His cool façade cracking with his jilted and rushed movements.

Danny sneered, "He's just as bad as Loki and Plasmius! He's just using you all for—"

Danny collapsed onto the ground of his cell, his limbs writhing and contracting, pain shooting through him to sink deep into his bones, rattling them from the inside out as electricity bounced off the walls, sending the room into a haze of white. A scream erupted from the halfa's throat that shook the prison dangerously. Hairline fractures spread across the length of the glass, weaving intricate and jagged patterns as his anguished cries carried.

Just as quickly, the pain stopped, leaving Danny lying on the floor, his body smoking heavily as he choked for air. Fluttering his eyes open, he saw Steve's patriotic shield embedded deep into the panel, the lights from the keys flickered before dying as the glass walls slid down out of sight.

"Enough." Steve's voice was strong in the silence, his expression hard.

Tony stalked up next to him, his jaw visibly grinding, "There was no need for that, Fury, he's just a kid. What's he know that's got you so scared, huh?"

"It is of no importance to any of you," Fury quipped, "Now, Miss Romanoff, will you and Mister Barton please escort the rest of your team members to the strategies room? We need to discuss our course of action against Loki and this 'Plasmius'. They are our most prominent threat of the moment."

With a sharp nod, Clint placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, who brushed it off with a final sorrowful glance at Danny's fallen body, before striding out, grabbing a cheerful Thor on the way as Bruce slowly shuffled out after them. Natasha hesitated to move from her spot, her eyes still trained on Danny before she snapped herself out of her stupor, smacking Tony across the back of his head, who released an indignant cry before being hauled out by the ex-assassin.

Danny almost sighed in relief as the door slid shut and silence encased the room, only to tense up as footsteps met his ears.

The half-ghost peeked an eye open to find the commander, Fury, waltzing into the chamber up to where Danny laid, "Phantom, I have a proposition for you."

A soft croaking noise escaped his throat. Fury took it as curiosity.

"Help us against Loki and his army and I promise you national immunity from this war."

Danny's mouth twisted in a frown as he stared up at the hazy outline of the director, before lolling his head side to side negatively. There was no way he was ever going to willingly work for SHIELD.

Fury's face became a lot clearer as it rushed into his vision, merely inches away from his own, blocking out the blinding lights from above, his voice almost mournful, "Let me rephrase the offer then, Phantom. If you _don't_ help SHIELD, I know for a fact that the heads are going to order for the termination of your little town, along with all of its citizens – ghostly or otherwise. It's considered a breeding-ground for your kind," The commander stood back up, making the bright fluorescent lights flood back into the halfa's vision, forcing him to clap his eyes back shut and twist his head away, "So what's it going to be? Do I need to make the call to the higher ups?" Fury asked, the threat dangling above Danny's head.

Danny didn't hesitate to nod in agreement.

"Good," Danny heard footsteps retreating from behind his eyelids, "You can join the rest of us in the strategy room when you're ready – I'm sure you can direct yourself around the Helicarrier by now. And remember, SHIELD will do _anything_ to protect the world from monsters like you. We will not hesitate to use drastic measures if necessary."

"So you're going to eliminating terrorism with terrorism?" Danny rasped out softly.

"It is only concluded as terrorism if you follow through with it, Phantom. And that choice relies solely on you."

The boots disappeared as the metal door locked. Silence swept over the room over him as he exhaled deeply, the ache in his bones catching up to him. The glowing white rings of his transformation embraced him to reveal his human form, stretching across him as his skin lost its slight tan, his white matted hair turned black, sticking to his face with sweat as his eyelids snapped open to reveal an angry blue. Neither SHIELD nor Plasmius were going to win this war. That, Danny could promise.

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Well, I suck. I'm sorry this took so long to write, I just struggled so hard with it. Also lost inspiration at one point and had to resubmerge myself back into the Marvel world.

Hope you all enjoy! Fury seems so evil in this chapter, but he's really not. He's just a man who views the world in black and white - good versus evil. And look, Tony actually has a heart. Albeit a slightly warped one...

Read and review my lovely readers! (By the way, 537 followers, 419 favourites and 611 reviews! I'm still cleaning goo off the ceiling where my head exploded. You guys are awesome and really, really patient!)


	28. Mediators

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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"Sorry to say this, Danny, but you've seriously injured your right hand." Bruce stated, stepping away from the examination table Danny was seated on in the medical bay.

"Wow, really, Doc? I couldn't tell through all the crippling pain that's been running through it for the past couple of hours." Danny quipped, cradling the appendage protectively.

Bruce ignored him, fixing a sheet of X-Ray film onto a light-board, "You've injured it in three places – mainly in the phalanx bones. You can see that the intermediate and proximal phalanges of your index finger have dislocated, while both the proximal and metacarpals of your middle finger are suffering from splintering fractures near their corresponding joints," Bruce pointed at each of the bones as he described them, "You've also strained the tendons in the synovial sheath, which is most likely the reason your forearm hurts as well."

"Cool," Danny replied dully, "So… my hand's broken then?"

Bruce sighed before opening a cupboard and pulled out large rolls of bandages and strapping tape, "I'd usually say you shouldn't use your hand for at least the next six weeks, but with your, uh, _resistance_ to injury, I think it would be best to trial it at four days for now."

Danny stared at him aghast, "_Four days?_ What am I going to do for four days?"

The doctor shrugged, softly gripping Danny's arm as he began to wind a long white strip of cloth around it, "We're going to need to support your wrist. Just hold still while I set the soft cast."

"Wait, you're giving me a cast?" Danny looked miserable, "Great," Bruce heard him mutter, "This just gets better and better."

Bruce awkwardly patted the boy on the shoulder, his much shorter stature making it difficult to reach. Glancing up at the sound of the door opening from behind him, he watched as Tony Stark strolled through, Pepper Potts behind him.

"Dan-Dan! How're you feeling?" Tony asked cheerily, his arm winding around Pepper as they approached the examination table. Danny glared, his bottom lip jutting out childishly as he eyed the red-haired woman suspiciously.

"Bruce," Pepper smiled warmly at the doctor, "It feels like forever since I've seen you."

Bruce threw a quick smile of his own before turning back to Danny's arm, binding it meticulously while Pepper approached the half-ghost.

"Hello there, you must be Danny Fenton. I'm Pepper Potts, Tony's _much_ better half." Pepper unwound herself from a protesting Tony's grip, stretching out her right hand. Danny blinked stupidly at her before he motioned at his clothed arm, making Pepper blush in embarrassment.

Danny ignored this, focusing on the multi-millionaire, "How does she know who I am?" He asked fiercely.

"Aw, come on, Danny, I trust Pepper with life – have many times, in fact. So don't worry." Tony clapped Danny on the back, jostling the poor boy's arm.

Bruce hovered over his bindings protectively with a sharp, "Watch it!" as Danny squeaked in pain.

"Jeez, the kid's just sprained a pinkie, right? It's not like he's taking a second trip to his deathbed or anything, right?" Pepper gave Tony a sharp jab in his side for the tasteless joke.

Danny angrily waved Bruce off him as he yanked the X-Ray from its board and shoved it out to the millionaire. Tony's eyes flicked down at the film, yet his arms stayed by his side.

Pepper heaved a sigh, rolling her eyes at Tony before graciously taking the sheet out of Danny's hand, "He doesn't like things being handed to him." She answered to Danny's questioning look.

Danny stared at her before turning back to Tony, "Just because _you_ trust her doesn't mean _I_ automatically can. It's not your secret to tell, Stark. Besides, Bruce here has told me you've made some pretty risky judgement calls before. Ones that have almost gotten you _killed_."

Bruce cringed at the mention of his name. Ducking his head low, he finished sealing the soft cast and began to bind Danny's fingers together, who grunted in pain.

"Stane-Schmane," Tony scoffed, fondly tapping his arc reactor, "All dear old Obadiah's done is helped me see who I can and can't trust."

"Well it's obvious that I can't trust you." Danny spat out scathingly. Tony fell quiet at that.

Looping a sling around Danny's neck with effort, Bruce stepped back to pack his materials away, "It's all done, Danny. You can go if you want."

"Finally! Thanks, Doc!" Danny leapt off the table, heading directly for the glass exit, "See ya!" He called over his shoulder with a wave of his uninjured hand, disappearing from sight.

Pepper watched him leave before quietly skipping out of Tony's reach and followed after the half-ghost, leaving the two men to face one another.

"I told you not to push him, Tony. You're feeling guilty now, aren't you?" Bruce commented, carefully closing the lid of his medical kit.

Tony sniffed, looking away, "I don't know what you're talking about."

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Danny stormed through the corridors, passing by a group of sniggering SHIELD agents, conspicuously pointing at his sling with obvious mirth. He glowered moodily at them, letting his green eyes flash threateningly. The operatives reeled back in fright, their hands hovering over their belt holsters protectively. Danny ignored them, continuing his way down the sterile-looking hallway without a backwards glance. Passing a bend, Danny quickly yanked the white cloth from around his neck and flung it to the floor, kicking it for good measure before stomping away.

"Danny, wait up!" The sharp clack of high heels met Danny's ears as he came to a standstill, impatiently waiting for the owner of the footsteps to reach his side.

The soft and inviting smile slid off Pepper's face at the sight of Danny's clenched jaw, as she cleared her throat uncomfortably, "I, um, just wanted to introduce myself officially, while Tony wasn't around."

Not even glancing down at her, Danny let out a heavy gust of air, "Nice to meet you." He gritted out, as if it pained him to say the words and twisted away from the woman, continuing down the corridor.

There was a pause before the annoying clicking of Pepper's shoes started up again, trailing behind him. Danny rolled his eyes but refused to say anything. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone – especially not someone who has such a personal relationship with Tony Stark. He was tired and hungry after all the commotion over the past two days, barely able to steal anything more than a sandwich from the Helicarrier's cafeteria without being chased down by either an overeager rookie or a deranged demi-god. The last thing he wanted was to associate with someone who considered an egotistical genius millionaire to be good boyfriend material.

The thin little sticks poking out of the soles of Pepper's shoes made a surprising amount of noise in the empty halls as she followed him. She didn't say a word, simply followed him vigilantly, quickening her footfalls as Danny extended his gait in an attempt to lose her. His arm was beginning to ache again without the support of his sling, yet he was too prideful to turn back and get it.

The clacking continued for several more minutes, and Danny could hear Tony's assistant begin to puff in her attempt to keep up. Finally, the half-ghost had enough.

"_What do you want?_" He hissed, whirling around angrily to loom over the tall woman.

Pepper stumbled back, apparently surprised by the abrupt confrontation, "I-I just wanted to talk… A-and to give you this." A long, wide strip of gauze was gripped in the red-head's hands, which she held it out to the halfa.

Danny felt all of his misconstrued anger deflate at the sight of the white cloth covered in footprints. Gently tugging it out of the woman's nervous grip, he looped the knot back around his neck before carefully sliding his damaged hand into place, sighing softly as the pressure lessened in his wrist.

"Thanks." He whispered guiltily, giving Pepper an uneasy smile.

Pepper's rigid posture didn't ease up at his words as she nodded sharply, her hands tucked safely behind her back.

Danny ran a hand through his messy white hair, sucking on his lower lip, "Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I… haven't been having the easiest time lately." He admitted while weakly adding, "You said your name was Pepper, right?"

Pepper seemed to brighten at this, her posture losing its tension as she stuck her hand out again, "Yes. I'm Pepper Potts, Stark Industry's CEO and Tony's conscience whenever the need arises."

"Wow. Tough job. I mean, the first sounds easy, but the second…"

Pepper smirked, "That's why I charge by the hour. I think I'll have built up a rather nice retirement fund by the end of it."

Danny chuckled softly when a jaw-cracking yawn cut him off, water seeped his tired tear ducts, giving his green eyes a glassy, unfocused appearance.

"Are you alright?" Pepper asked warily.

Danny hummed affirmatively, "Yeah, just haven't gotten my full eight hours for a while – apparently falling unconscious all the time just makes you more sleepy."

"Oh, I didn't even think that ghosts could get tired," Clicking her stilettos together and grabbing onto the black sleeve of Danny's uninjured arm, Pepper dragged Danny further down the corridor, "Come on. You can have Tony's bed. He can sleep on the couch tonight."

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Steve sat in his room, carefully buffering his shield with precise movements. The rough cloth rubbing small circular motions against the familiar red, white and blue. It was moments like these that Steve cherished – moments where he didn't have to think about anything except whatever was directly in front of him.

Applying more pressure with his cloth on a particularly stubborn streak of dirt, Steve huffed as more flecks of paint flittered to the ground to join the accumulating pile on the floor. With all the scratches and marks covering the round plate's surface, the stars and stripes were now almost imperceptible.

Carefully resting his shield on its allocated stand, Steve slumped onto his bed with a frown, staring unseeingly at the ceiling. With all the commotion around Danny and the invading ghosts, Steve felt more than a little stressed out. The burden to keep the boy's identity safe while watching him struggle was eating away at the Captain's empathetic heart. After being dismissed by Fury, the Avengers had quickly parted ways – Thor storming off angrily with Clint and Natasha following behind at a much calmer pace.

Steve had hovered near the door along with a curious Tony and Bruce, making weak conversation with the genii, until a strangely reluctant Tony had been dragged away by an operative, claiming someone called 'Pepper' had arrived. Steve himself was forced to leave shortly after with Nick Fury for a debriefing, leaving a nervous doctor outside the chamber alone.

Steve felt his eyes pinch at the corners. Sometimes he had the strange feeling that his teammates knew about Danny.

Something was digging into Steve's back, dragging the super-soldier out of his memories to instead make him wriggle uncomfortably and grope for the mysterious object. Pulling out a thin, black block of plastic covered in an array of buttons, Steve carelessly tossed the television remote onto the small table next to his bed and rolled over, trying to clear his mind again.

An image of Danny being trapped in the containment chamber flooded to the forefront of his mind, making him groan to himself. Running a hand down his face, Steve sat up, snatching at the remote to clumsily switch on the television screen, slowly flicking through channels to keep his mind off the halfa.

Clicking another button, Steve quickly remembered why he didn't like the moving picture box. It was mind-numbingly dull and pointless. In his time, televisions were rare and far between, and the theatre had simply been too expensive for him to visit regularly. So when he was first introduced to this certain piece of technology, the war veteran had originally been blown away – only to be found quite disappointed by the sheer amount of infomercials and lazily-planned sitcoms.

Pressing off a cooking show, Steve's thumb stilled over the channel button as a familiar white-haired boy's smirking face filled the screen. A hysterical woman's voice filtered through the background, the pixelated camera shaking violently in the speaker's hands as Danny threw her concerned looks.

The shot cut to a scene Steve was less than proud of. Bruce's gigantic green form was leaping at one of the news copters that had invaded the streets of Vatican City, dangerously grazing the tail as Steve attempted to distract him, while vainly ordering the helicopters away, before a well-aimed lamppost collided with one of their rotors, forcing the chopper out of the sky down towards earth, only to be valiantly saved by Danny before it hit the ground.

Tuning into the news presenter's words, Steve felt his stomach drop in trepidation.

"—_with an estimate of over fourteen billion dollars in repairs needed on the Basilica alone, the city of the Vatican has been left in ruins by our beloved Avengers, who we have once placed both our trust and our lives in," _The anchor-man's expression was grim as he stared into the camera, a small screen off to the side running footage of the demolished city, _"While no injuries or deaths have occurred in this nation-wide catastrophe – thanks to a hero now recognised as 'Danny Phantom'—" _The side-screen switched to a still of Danny fighting a green Bruce, _"the world still has to wonder 'Have we put our trust the right people?' Many believe no as riots have begun to break out across the world, calling for the Avengers to be punished."_

Steve watched with wide eyes as the scene changed. Images of mobs holding picket signs with demoralising slogans against Steve and his teammates – some promoting Danny Phantom – flickered past the screen, people mauling each other and creating havoc as armed policemen moved in on them with riot shields and tear-gas.

Steve quickly switched off the television, flinging the remote across the room as he hurried to find the others.

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Danny collapsed boneless onto the large bed as the white rings ran over him, throwing his uninjured arm over his eyes with a slow but satisfied smile. The bed dipped slightly as Pepper perched herself on the edge. Peeking out from under his arm, Danny found her staring at him with a light frown.

"What?" He asked nervously, shuffling minutely away across the mattress.

Pepper glanced away, shaking her head, "It's nothing."

"No, seriously, what's up? You can tell me." Danny pressed.

Pepper tugged seemingly unconsciously at the bedspread, "It's, well… When Tony described you, I just assumed…" The red-head seemed to hesitate before finally admitting, "I just didn't expect you to be so _young_."

Danny sat up slowly, resting his back against the headboard, and stared at her as she continued to awkwardly fiddled with the sheets.

"He talks about you a lot, you know. He's really impressed by what you do," Pepper laughed softly to herself before meeting Danny's shocked eyes, "When he first came home from meeting you, he spent hours on the computer – finding out as much as he could about you – and babbling on about a magic kid that beat up Bruce."

"I'm not magic." Danny said, disgruntled.

Pepper ignored him, "He really likes you, Danny."

The halfa scoffed, "Well if that's true, he's got a funny way of showing it! To him, my identity is just a big old game of 'Guess Who?'."

Pepper looked at him forlornly, "Tony isn't really the best at human interactions, I'll admit. He just doesn't know how to talk to you, since you're so young."

"He's almost let me die tons of times!" Danny flailed his arms violently, before quickly pulling them back to his person, his right twinged uncomfortably.

"Do you really think Tony would let someone die if he could stop it?" Pepper asked. Danny looked away guiltily.

Standing up, she walked over to the doorframe, "I'll talk to Tony for you, but just consider his side as well."

Danny bit his lip, before calling out, "You're not going to tell people about, er… _me_ are you?" He gestured towards himself, his dark hair and blue eyes a stark contrast against his pale skin.

With a ghost of a smile, Pepper simply replied, "Sweet dreams," before slipped out of the room, closing the door with a sharp click.

Danny moaned as he flopped back down onto the bed, throwing one of the many pillows over his face and squeezed his eyes shut, in an attempt to shut out the annoying voice in the back of his head that was agreeing with Pepper, and go to sleep.

Too bad he didn't feel tired anymore.

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It's short, I know. And I'm sorry. University is a terrible thing. Updates will be vague for a while. Read and review - it might motivate me to ignore school...


	29. Decoys

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Bruce gingerly slipped into the Surveillance Room, seating himself next to Natasha at the long black table. Tony, Clint and Steve sat quietly opposite them, each lost in their own musings. Swarms of SHIELD operatives flittered in and out of the room, as they desperately attempted to chip away at a large chunk of ice frozen over the surveillance console.

"Did the intruders do that?" Bruce whispered to an indifferent Natasha.

"No. The Draugur." Natasha replied brusquely.

"Danny?" Bruce asked incredulously.

The female agent didn't bother to reply as Thor and Fury swept into the room, Fury moving to stand at the head of the table as the Asgardian smugly seated himself next to Bruce. The much smaller scientist blanched at the sight of Thor's broad smile. He had been perpetually happy since he had found out that Danny was being held in captivity on the Helicarrier.

Fury sent a look to the excavating agents, who quickly fled the room with a sharp salute and the hiss of the closing door.

"It seems," Fury began, planting his hands onto the long black table-top, "That Rogers has come across some rather discrediting news about our… _situation_. While we do not know if this was part of Loki's plans, I am now asking that all members of the Avengers Initiative to try to maintain as much control at all times as possible, lest we fall into the same problem again." Fury's single eye flicked obviously over in Bruce's direction, making his cheeks burn in shame.

"How should we act next then, sir?" Clint queried, "If this is a ploy of Loki's to lower earth's defences then how do we respond?"

Fury lowered himself into his seat and leant forwards, "We fight fire with fire."

"You mean use the Draugur?" Natasha asked bewildered, eyebrows raised. Bruce felt his own do the same.

Fury tipped his head at her, "That is correct, Romanoff. This 'Phantom', as it calls itself, is our closest link to capturing Loki and his associates. Loki's plans to take over the Vatican may have failed, but he has succeeded in planting discord and distrust into the public's eye. Even if it was unintentional."

Thor's beaming face morphed in an intimidating sneer, his voice low as he hissed, "Have you not understood _any_ of my warnings? Draugurs are never to be trusted! They are not capable of feeling anything – the freak could turn on us at any time!"

Steve burst out angrily, "Danny's not like that! He's different! You can't just assume—"

"You have not seen what I have seen, mortal," Thor spat, "Never in all the epochs of my life have I met a more cruel or vicious creature than one of Hel's spawn! My brother's sins do not compare to ones committed by those foul beasts." Bruce thought he heard Thor's voice waver – the god almost seemed scared.

"You do not have to worry about that, Thor," Fury stated, "I have complete control over the Draugur at the present time. Our focus should primarily be on Loki and what his plans are next."

Bruce looked over and tried to catch an unusually sombre Tony's eye, but the Ironman simply ignored him to stare down at the table with a deep frown.

Clearing his throat, Bruce squeaked, "Don't you think it's a little odd?"

"Think _what_ is odd, Mr Banner?" Fury clipped out, reclining back in his chair to stare at Bruce.

"It's just that –from what Thor and what Tony told me in the Vatican – Loki didn't seem to put up much of a fight. Thor said that these ghosts – sorry, I mean Draugurs – are some of the scariest things around… But it sounded like they weren't even trying."

"It is true that they are not as strong or as fearsome as I remember." Thor admitted, tucking his burly arms across his chest. Bruce noticed Tony's eyes narrow, but the genius still refused to speak.

"Are you suggesting Loki wasn't at the Basilica to overthrow it?" Natasha pressed.

"There weren't even any hostages this time, unlike in Stuttgart." Steve added as he gazed at Danny's ice-block, "Loki thrives off attention – the Vatican's always been a popular tourist destination, even in my day. He could have had hundreds under his control, but almost nobody was hurt…"

"The Vatican was a distraction." Clint concluded.

Steve looked at him puzzled, "But why? Just to get his sceptre?"

Natasha shook her head, "No. It must be something more than that. Loki's not one to stay quiet forever, he'll be back."

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Danny rolled over onto his stomach, burrowing his face deeper into the soft feather-down pillow. This was exactly what he needed – a nice, long relaxing nap. It felt good to forget everything that was going on, to teeter between the edge of responsibility and sleep to just fall off without any worries into unconscious bliss.

Hearing a door shut with as soft clack, Danny bundled himself up further in the sheets with a reluctant groan, throwing the thick duvet over his head. Footsteps neared the bed before stopping short, and Danny thought he heard a masculine chuckle through his sleep-induced haze. Another pair of feet slipped into the room shortly after – much lighter than the first – and soft whispers began to carry back and forth between their owners – too soft for even Danny's advanced hearing to catch.

Repositioning his broken hand, Danny found that he just couldn't care anymore. He couldn't care about Vlad, Loki or any of the escaped ghosts. It just felt too good to sleep. Even if it was Thor sneaking in to pummel him to a pulp… well, there could be worse ways to go than in a king sized bed with thousand-thread Egyptian cotton sheets. Snuggling further into the pillow, the halfa sighed contently before the voices faded into the background, slipping away as he fell into oblivion once again.

The howling cry of an alarm jolted Danny awake, sending him scrambling to escape his bed-cloth cocoon and collapse on the floor. Freeing an arm, Danny shoved the rest of the tangled sheets off and pushed himself up, looking around wildly in confusion. Where was that wretched noise coming from?

The main door flung open with a bang as it collided with the wall, making Danny jump back and raise his arms defensively, an ecto-ray flickering weakly in his uninjured palm. Pepper Potts stood in the doorway, gawking at the glowing hand in wonderment.

"_Danny!_" She finally hissed, snapping out of her stupor, her voice almost inaudible as the alarm raged on, "You have to change!"

Danny blinked languidly as he lowered his arm, "Wha—? Why?"

Slamming the door shut behind her and leaning on it heavily, Pepper said, "Because of SHIELD, Danny! Remember? The entire world's being attacked!"

Danny attempted to shake off the remains of his sleepiness, "Attacked? What are you _talking_ about? And what's it gotta do with me?"

Pepper swallowed nervously, "Tony said Fury's sending you in."

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Fury watched over the Operations Room with a frown as the alarms continued to wail. SHIELD agents rushed back and forth from their stations – the room a catastrophic clash of noise and panic. News broadcastings from across the globe covered the screens, as footage of invading Draugurs swept through cities at an alarming pace, leaving trails of destruction and havoc everywhere they went.

"Sir, there have been sightings of the aliens in Greece and India now, as well as China and Russia!" Maria called up to the platform.

"Where is Loki now?" Fury asked his lieutenant calmly.

"We're not ertain, sir, but Anderson's discovered a sixty-eight percent match just outside of Uppsala, Sweden."

Fury frowned deeper, "No other traces?"

"No, director."

Tapping on one of his thin, glass computer screens, Fury said, "Very well. Send in the Draugur as a decoy, then the Avengers. We're going after Loki."

Maria hesitantly saluted her commanding officer before barking out navigation codes to the nearby agents. Fury turned back to his screens, staring peevishly at the documents and files scattered across them. The Draugurs were more troublesome than he had originally assumed, but soon they would become SHIELD's most valuable assets – and most loyal. Fury smiled as he locked the encrypted 'Draugur' folder. Phantom was the key.

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Danny gasped desperately for the thinned air from behind the constricting muzzle as he was directed out of the roof's alcove, his lungs burning painfully as the wind whipped around him. The glowing, energy-sucking manacles clasped around his wrist and cast clinked derisively at him with each step, while the four SHIELD agents held their weapons out warily, making him long for Pepper's company and rational mind.

Pepper had been forced to leave after they had discovered Danny residing in her room in his ghostly form, but had argued greatly before she was taken out when they strapped on his mask and cuffs. Danny mentally snorted, the chains didn't really matter anyway – Fury already had him trapped.

Homesickness hit him again as he thought back to his friends and family he had inadvertently put in danger once again, a sob ripping from his throat before the air escaped his lungs entirely, making him choke.

Breathing heavily in an attempt not to suffer from oxygen deprivation, Danny sped across the tarmac with a burst of his weakened ghostly energy, heading for the open-hatched Blackbird – ducking low as he clambered inside, wary of knocking his head on the low ceilings again.

Depositing himself on one of the benches, the halfa growled at the armed guards who had followed behind, taking off their portable oxygen tanks and shutting the hatch with a metallic clang. The agents hesitantly seated themselves opposite Danny – strapping on their seatbelts as the Blackbird's engine began to hum – weapons still poised.

Fuming, Danny turning to the window as a distraction only to catch sight of Fury standing in the alcove, his own oxygen mask wrapped securely around his mouth and nose as he stared unblinkingly back at the halfa. Swivelling back in his seat, Danny felt his irises burn as they flared dangerously, making the SHIELD agents flinch back as a snarl tore its way through his mask. Huffing moodily as the guards clenched their weapons tighter, Danny took a deep shuddering breath, the way Sam and Tucker had taught him after his incident with Vortex a few years ago, and forced himself to calm.

Repeating the process a few more times, Danny quickly found himself coming to a conclusion. Fury and the Avengers may want the same thing as Danny, but there was no way he was ever going to work in SHIELD's favour – he'd make sure of that.

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It'll probably be another month or so before I update this story again. Sorry. School exams are coming up and I simply don't have time. I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though it is a tad short. And to the people that were worried I'd abandon this story; don't worry. I don't believe in abandoned stories, I get infuriated when I find a story I love and the author just drops it. So updates may be a bit topsy-turvy, but they will be posted eventually.

Also a massive thank you to Cupcake Reaper who did a brilliant fan-art (featured as my display image) for this story. There's a link to her DeviantArt account to see the full sized image on my profile. Give her your support, she's truly talented.

Enjoy everyone! Reviews are always lovely and I shall see you next month!


	30. Truths

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the Avengers

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Sam's fingers twitched towards the phone in Tucker's hand as she pacing madly back and forward across her bedroom floor, only to pause ever few minutes with an incomprehensible grumble before she'd begin her wild striding again.

"Chill out, Sam. I'm sure Danny's fine," Tucker said, not looking up from the handheld's screen from where he laid on her dark canopy bed, "Darn, his phone's not connecting."

"Well _you_ must be doing something wrong then!" Sam cried out angrily, "Danny wouldn't bail on us unless something terrible happened you know!"

"Hey! I resent that! Look, Sam, stop worrying. His phone's probably just switched off. You know how he gets when he's in 'hero-mode', he forgets stuff." Tucker replied.

"Well even if he _did_ forget we gotta think of something fast – otherwise Danny's parents are gonna freak, Tucker! He's been gone for almost four days! I don't think the whole 'study-session' thing is gonna cut it much longer. Danny's never studied more than two days in a row! Not even around finals! And with Phantom being broadcasted all over the news his secret's at huge risk!"

The goth resumed her heavy-footed pacing across her purple carpet, grousing to herself about mindless superheroes leaving her behind. Tucker tapped agitatedly at his PDA, scrolling through the endless files he had secretly duplicated from Danny's phone as he tried to block out Sam's nonsensical mutterings.

Opening another folder icon, Tucker paused as its contents spilled out across the screen, "Hey, Sam? Did you say Danny asked about something called a _'Drau-gur'_?"

"Yeah, why?" Sam asked distractedly, nibbling at a worn thumbnail.

"I think you need to see this."

With a huff, the goth girl collapsed onto the bed next to her friend and leaned over his shoulder, "What?" Tucker twisted the small phone's screen so she could see, watching as her eyes narrowed, "It's a weird stick, so?"

Tucker frowned as he searched his brain, "It's that evil god-guy's staff from New York last year. That mind-controlling one, remember?"

"Yeah, of course I do. What else is in there?" Sam snatched the phone from the boy's grasp, making him whimper as she slapped away his reaching hand, "What's this? Some sort of ghost database?" she asked, skipping through profiles of spectres – some of which the tech-geek recognised.

"What? I dunno," Tucker replied intelligently, cradling his stung hand, "Maybe SHIELD's trying to suss them out and see if they're a threat? It's kinda their job. They _are_ a defence force after all."

"But this doesn't look anything like the one we have down in the Fenton lab. These look more like… reference pages. Look," Sam pointed at a blurry picture of an ectopus, "'Strength level: two, Defence level: three, Abilities: flight, intangibility'— Tucker, I don't think they're planning on destroying ghosts."

Tucker hesitated, "What d'you mean?"

Sam didn't reply, racing through files as her eyes flicked across the pixelated pictures. Tucker could almost hear her brain whirring as she attempted to process everything.

"I think," Sam declared slowly, "They're planning on making Danny a weapon."

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"_Can you hear me, Draugur?"_

Danny huffed from his spot on top of a row of hills, his once-pristine boots covered in a thick layer of mud that squelched each timed he moved, "Aye, aye, Captain One-Eye." Danny jeered, cupping his hand around the communicator planted in his ear.

Fury ignored the jibe, _"What do you see?"_

Danny heaved a sigh as he looked around the dull Swedish landscape, "I dunno. Three hills, some weird looking barn houses and an old church."

"_No sign of Loki or the Draugurs?"_ Fury pressed.

"Not that I can see— oh, wait! I think that's him!" Danny squinted down towards the spatter of houses where a figure was moving behind one of the short, red-picketed fences.

The director's voice was urgent, _"What's he doing?"_

"I think he's… _chewing grass_. Nope, sorry, that's a goat," Danny snickered, "I couldn't tell, they have the same horns."

A frustrated growl echoed in his head, forcing Danny to cover his mouth with his hand in fear of being caught laughing.

"_Focus, Phantom."_

The halfa chuckled, finding the confidence to mock the director now that he was out of the intimidating man's range, "I _am_ focusing, but I've swept everything! There's nothing here that even looks—" A shadow flicked out of the corner of Danny's eye, making him halt mid-sentence, "Hold on a sec." he told Fury – yanking his communicator out, despite the SHIELD commander's sputtering protests – as he stealthily trekked down the steep muddy hill towards a lone house across from the church's graveyard that ran down a slope.

Reaching the base of the mound, Danny slipped through the thin foliage bordering the hills from the gravel lane and glanced around. There was no sign of the shadow. The half-ghost frowned as he dodged between birch and alder trees, growing frustrated as he searched for a hint of Loki or Vlad.

Easily clearing the low fence around the barn house's immaculate garden of snake's head lilies and white campions, Danny crept further in, edging around the shrubbery lining the open yard as he crept closer to the barn house. The wooden building looked uninhabited despite the fresh coat of red paint that covered the timber walls and freshly mowed lawn. Licking his teeth as he neared the still barn, Danny let the chilling feeling of intangibility slide over him as he ducked through the wall.

It was dark on the inside, only slivers of light escaping through the cracks of the shuttered windows and door. Raising a glowing fist Danny shuffled forward, wary of the dark corners and the looming shadows of decrepit farm equipment. His breath shuddered as he swivelled around, his eyes glowing like beacons in their effort to see further in the stifling dark. Danny stood holding his breath as he pricked his ears, catching the soft rustle of the trees outside and the bleating goat further down the road.

Heaving a relieved sigh, Danny stuffed the communicator back in his ear, his hand dulling to his body's natural soft glow, stating, "False alarm. Loki and Vlad aren't here."

There was a pause before Fury answered, _"Very well, the Avengers will be arriving in less than twelve minutes. Return with them to the Helicarrier – you know the consequences if you don't."_

"Whatever." Danny said sullenly as he turned to glide back through the wall.

A burst of pink light sped past his ear, charring the tips of his hair and sending a sharp burst of electric static through the communicator nestled in his eardrum, making it crackle violently. With a yelp of pain, Danny ripped the small device from his ear and flung it across the room.

"What the—?" still moaning softly, Danny pressed a palm to the side of his head and spun around only to find himself inches away from a gaunt and vampiric face.

"Hello, Daniel." Vlad Plasmius smiled.

Before Danny could even catch his breath, an energy-ball collided with his chest, sending him flying through the darkened interior of the barn house. Hitting the wall with a heavy thud, the halfa slid down, tumbling to the ground with an "Oomph!"

Vlad laughed at him from in the dark, his body outlined by a soft white glow, casting his features into darkness, "Is that all you've got, Daniel? My, with all this publicity you've gotten lately I'd have expected you to lift your game more. You wouldn't want to upset your adoring fans now, would you?"

Resting on his knees, Danny boldly asked, "What do you want, Plasmius?"

The older halfa cocked his head amusedly, "Why, I want many things, little badger. Your father's timely death, your dear mother's undivided love, your acceptance of me as a father-figure, world domination and so on."

"So the usual?" Danny quipped as he shakily stood.

"Yes, I suppose so." Vlad admitted, content.

"Well what makes you think you're gonna get any of that this time either? I've kicked your butt before, Plasmius, and I don't mind doing it again!"

Vlad tutted reproachfully, "Now, now, my dear boy. You really should learn better manners. I'm simply here to offer you a deal, Daniel. I'm here to offer you _truth._"

Danny shook his head as he powered up his hands, condensed balls of energy hovering in his palms, "I'm gonna give you three seconds to surrender, Plasmius. The Avengers will be here any minute and I'm sure you'd rather deal with me than them."

Vlad sneered, "Oh, don't worry, my boy, these 'Avengers' are hardly worth the air I don't really need to breathe. No, you are _much_ more valuable to us."

"One…" Danny raised a glowing finger, his other hand crackling with energy as it seeped out of his skin.

"Honestly, I don't even understand why you are working for this 'SHIELD', I doubt they're paying you. And you're far from one that sees worth in materialism, otherwise I would have had all the legal rights to you and your sister long ago…"

"Two…" Danny raised another threatening finger.

A spark seemed to glisten in Vlad's eye as he raised a derisive brow, "Ah, I see. You're being held captive. An unchained prisoner – 'fighting for freedom', I believe the saying goes. How melodramatic."

Danny snarled as his hand curled into a fist, "Three—!"

Thick green arms wrapped around Danny's torso as he leapt towards Plasmius, pulling him back into a crushing bear-hug with a squeak. Danny thrashed in the grip as his arms were pinned to his sides, gnashing his teeth at the tree-trunk like appendages.

Plasmius chortled at the struggling Danny trapped in the arms of the hulking ghost, "Very nice work. Your timing is impeccable." he extolled to the giant hunk of muscle.

A grunt was the only response the ghost gave as Danny kicked his legs out, trying to force his way out of its arms as his eyes swivelled in their sockets for a weapon hidden in the darkness. Light streamed in through the charred hole Vlad had earlier blasted through the wall with his ectobeam aimed at Danny, landing on a dangerous-looking hook and chain right above his head. Without thinking, Danny kicked himself off the gargantuan ghost's torso, using the added power to curl his legs up and wrap his ankle around the hook, dragging it down on top of him and his captor.

The ghost roared in surprise and confusion, dropping the white-haired boy to the ground as the ghost entangled itself. Wasting no time, Danny propelled himself at Plasmius, catching the older man around the waist as they tumbled out into the Swedish landscape.

Landing heavily on top of Vlad on the gravel road, Danny coughed out, "Give up now."

Vlad smirked as he melted into the ground out of Danny's reach, leaving him grasping at small, sharp rocks. Angrily slamming his hand against the ground, Danny stood up, looking around wildly as he launched himself into the open air.

Catching sight of a faint glow in the churchyard, he zoomed forward, landing heavily on top of a stone cross.

"Plasmius!" the halfa cried, "Come out and face me, you coward!"

"I wouldn't call running away cowardice, merely a tactical manoeuvre." A sly voice called out.

Jumping off the gravestone, Danny turned to see Loki smirking at him from across the yard, a long glowing staff by his side. Reaching for his communicator, the halfa swore softly at finding it missing, cursing again when he remembered his phone had long since disappeared as well. Loki strode across the field confidently, carelessly crushing flower and wreath offerings that sat in front of marble slates and stone crosses, his golden boots shredding the gifts to pieces, making Danny grit his teeth at the blatant disrespect.

Loki looked unaffected as he came to a stand-still a few feet away from the riled Danny, "Are you sure he will be of use to us?" the god asked.

"He's inexperienced, but powerful. Perhaps even more than myself." A disembodied voice replied from behind Danny. The half-ghost hurriedly glanced over his shoulder to see Plasmius fizzle into existence. They had him surrounded.

"What do you want?" Danny shuffled around to keep his back safe, raising his hands in preparation to throw a shield out either side.

Plasmius sighed, "Honestly, Daniel, is your memory that bad? We've been over this already."

Danny scoffed, "I doubt the Lord of the Sheep over here wants to marry my mum… Er, right? Because if he does, that's gross." he stuck his tongue out at Loki in disgust.

A soft hum started in the church on top of the slope, making Danny jump as he watched in suspense. A flash flared out from the window-panes, submersing him and the others in a strange, electric-green light.

Twisting back to Loki, Danny demanded, "What's going on?"

The god's lips turned up as he waved his staff in grandeur, "Why, this is the beginning of my reign, _Phantom._ A time where I will control these weak human creatures, where I will gain both the crown and respect I deserve from Asgard, and where all of the nine realms of Yggdrasil will fear my name."

Vlad cleared his throat brusquely.

"And my companion's of course." Loki added flippantly.

"That doesn't answer my question," Danny growled, "How did you get out of prison? The Blond-and-Brawny said they found a lot of blood in your cell."

Loki's laugh cut through Danny like steel, "I always found father's guards far too strident. Beinir's sacrifice was for the good of everyone in the end, since his abilities lacked when it came to ever staying silent."

Danny's mind flashed back to the overly-talkative guard that had held Danny custody during his brief stint in Asgard, "You _killed_ him?"

"No," Vlad spoke up, "I did to allow Loki to escape. The plan would have worked much smoother if I'd succeeded in destroying that insufferable gatekeeper."

"But why are you doing this? Why team up?" Danny shook his head, his arms were starting to grow tired from being held up for so long.

Vlad laughed brazenly at Danny's question, "Daniel, do you really know _nothing_ about strategy? After all the time you've spent with your annoying little friends trailing behind you on your 'ghost hunts', I think you should know how effective teamwork can be. It's simple genius, really; I provide the resources, while the god supplies the knowledge."

A loud boom broke through Vlad's monologue from up the on the climb as the glowing church's doors were blown clean off their hinges, a beastly, hulking shadow stumbling out. Danny staggered back as he tried to realign his defences, uncertain on who was most dangerous with so many enemies.

"My lieges," a familiar, gruff voice called out, "The machine is ready."

The halfa's eyes widened as he watched his friend of the Far Frozen emerge from the depths of the old church, "_Frostbite?_" Danny blurted out in shock, "You're working for _Vlad?_"

"It's curious, is it not, how much the truth can change a person when they are confronted with it?" Loki asked amusedly.

"_What did you do to him?_"The half-ghost hissed as he watched Frostbite stand in the doorway motionless.

Loki simply waved a hand and looked scornfully out towards a row of three hills in the neighbouring meadow, where Danny had first landed, "Were you aware, half-born, that this place is sacred? It was here where the great temple of _Gamla Uppsala_ once stood in dedication to my dear brother and father – of course, that was before I destroyed it," Loki admitted gleefully before tuning sombre again, "Every solstice my father – along with Thor – would ride along the Bifröst to this very spot, where they would bask in the grovelling of the human race. Those three hills were formed as a show of loyalty to them and named the 'Royal Mounds'." the god then sneered, "Of course I was never invited on these journeys – for I was far from considered worthy enough, as I was even looked down upon by the _humans_ with my despised heritage."

"So this is all for revenge?" Danny asked, frowning darkly as his hands flickered, "Everything you've done and everyone you've hurt was because of some stupid grudge between you and your brother? Well, playtime's over, buddy!"

"Oh, I rather like to think it has just begun. Plasmius, if you would please?"

"Of course, the Avengers will be arriving soon anyway," Vlad replied, before ordering, "Now, Danielle."

Danny hesitated, "_Danielle?_ Wha—?"

A click echoed through the tense air and Danny looked down to see an oddly familiar belt around his waist, before he cried out as torrents of white-hot electricity rushed through him, making his blood feel like it was on fire. Collapsing to the ground, Danny writhed in the mud as the pain made his muscles contract sucking the energy from them, the tendons in his neck bulging out as his windpipe closed. Struggling to catch his breath, Danny barely felt himself being rolled onto his back as his vision whirled, his throat raw as he desperately screamed out into the cold Swedish air for relief.

Just as suddenly as it came, the pain stopped, leaving Danny panting in the wet dirt as unfocussed pictures played across the inside of his eyelids, making him feel queasy, his hair caked in mud. Cracking open his eyes with effort, he winced at the sight. Plasmius and Loki hovered over him – a green and white belt held tightly in Vlad's grip – as a small teenage girl with a shock of white hair floated behind them.

Vlad leered down at him, proudly presenting the Spectre Deflector, "Remember this, my dear boy? I have to say, I never thought one day that you'd be helping me by giving me this wretched device."

The weakened halfa watched Dani with a confused expression as she stared blankly down at him while Vlad placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Danny rasped, feeling drained and jumbled, "D-Dani?"

"Just give in, Danny." His clone's eyes sparkled electric blue.

Vlad stared down at him peculiarly as Loki lowered the tip of his glowing staff to Danny's sternum, "Maybe now you'll be the son I've always wanted."

"No, wait…" Danny murmured, hopelessly trying to push the sharpened point away from his heart as cobalt light began to bleed into him. He was losing focus as his eyelids became heavier, until all he could see was blue.

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This chapter was so difficult to write, honestly. It would have been up much sooner if I didn't suddenly lose all of my creativity at once. Also, I adore Google Street View - it is the most helpful thing in the world when it comes to describing unknown countries/territory.

I'm on holidays now so updates should be at a regulated two week schedule now for the next few months.

Thank you everyone who reviewed and waited so patiently for this.


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